Bone (potential skull) Isle of Wight UK

[Gideon]

Hello

 

Would anyone have a suggestion what this could be?

 

It's a cross section from a split rock. Isle of Wight, UK. Conglomerate between Chilton Chine and Brook Bay. Definitely bone. Very thin bone in most places. 6.5 cm long, 6 cm wide.

 

It has been suggested that it is skull material.

 

It will be a tricky prep with my limited experience, but if anyone could suggest what i could be, it could help with knowing where to start.

 

Thanks in advance

Henry

 

 

[RJB]

Very interesting to say the least!  Looks very 'fishy' but I really dont know.  For prepping there would have to be some consolidating for sure.  Im sure that @Ptychodus04 could help out a bit with both some really good advice and maybe even what it is.  Good luck

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

Looks very fishy to me. As to what... I'm at a loss. As for prep help, can we get some details on the type of matrix? Hard, soft, etc

[Gideon]

Hi

 

its a conglomerate. Not too hard. It can probably be prepped using a small pick, and removing the grains piece by piece. Unfortunately most things I have found in this rock have been fairly brittle. 

 

It will probably have to be a long term prepping job where patience is the key! I will need to leave a fair bit of the matrix as support I reckon. 

 

if I can figure out the likely shape of the fossil I'll have a better idea on how to start. 

Might be a bit out of my depth with this one!

 

thanks

henry

[Ptychodus04]

Get some Paraloid for the stabilizer. @JohnBrewer has a source in the U.K. Drop/brush it onto the bone and let it soak in. It will help hold it together. Don't overuse or you will bond the matrix to the bone.

[Gideon]

Thanks ptychodus. 

 

If if I don't mess it up I'll post the results on here. Could be some time though!

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Gideon said:

Thanks ptychodus. 

 

If if I don't mess it up I'll post the results on here. Could be some time though!

 

Take your time and use magnification. You'll do just fine. Sometimes dampening the matrix will help to take it off. A large sewing needle in a pin vise is a perfect tool for this type of prep.

[Boesse]

Acid preparation may be a viable method.

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Boesse said:

Acid preparation may be a viable method.

 

If it is a limestone based conglomerate. 5% acetic acid (vinegar) works well

[jdp]

I agree this is skull, but I think it may be reptile rather than fish. There is a possibility this is mammal, too. I think I see the braincase and possibly parts of the temporal arches.

 

Given the delicate nature of the bone, prep should be done very, very delicately. Do not prep inside the skull (the brown silty stuff) as that will be necessary to keep the specimen together. Others suggested acid prep; I'm not sure this is a good idea, as the bone looks pretty fragmented in places. I think the go-to approach for something like this would be to use paraloid to stabilize the bone you can see, embed that side in carbowax, and then prep carefully from the other side, coating any bone with paraloid as you find it. 

 

However, the quality of preservation of this specimen might warrant donation to a research museum. If it's a new species (and small fossils like this often are), you could probably arrange to have it named after you.

[JohnBrewer]

Nice find. I too recommend you get it looked at by a museum before you do anything to it. 

[Gideon]

My apologies for the late reply.

 

I didn't see the most recent posts.

 

I think I will leave this to the professionals for now, and do a check with the NHM identification team.

 

A mammal skull would be fantastic, but unfortunately mammal remains of any kind are virtually unheard of in this area to the best of my knowledge.

 

If it's anything interesting I'll update here.

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions! 

[jpc]

This does have the potential to be a really cool fossil.  And needs professional prep work.  

[JohnBrewer]

@TXV24 might know 

[TXV24]

@JohnBrewer @Gideon My knowledge of all things wealden isn't great but ditto what everyone else has said really, looks like the skull of a fish or reptile (turtle, could be a possibility?), although I don't think dinosaur. It might be worth getting in touch with Dinosaur Isle about it. I'm a laboratory volunteer there so I could show or pass on the images to the guys I work with who will probably be able to help and would definitely be interested in taking a look at something like this. 

[Gideon]

Thanks

 

txv24 - what a great place to work! Lucky you. 

 

If you get a chance to show the picture to someone at the museum that would be great. Thanks

 

im too nervous to prep it, so if it turns out to be anything good they can have it. Although, it won’t be complete, as the rock surface in the photo is how it was found- I didn’t split the rock to reveal it, so don’t have the other piece. 

 

Thanks again

henry

[TXV24]

@Gideon I'm there most of next week so I'll make sure to show them the images and tell them where you found it etc. I can't imagine they won't be able to help with it as the museum's speciality is the wealden so I'll let you know what they say.

 

 

 

  

 

[Gideon]

Nice one...Thanks again TXV24

[TXV24]

Hi @Gideon, 

 

I've shown the image to some of my colleagues at Dinosaur Isle and they said the best thing to do would probably be to bring it in. Nobody could tell what it originated from exactly, but dinosaur is a possibility. It looks most likely to be a skull of some form based on the apparent bilateral symmetry. There was also the suggestion that it may be some form of vertebra that has been broken at a strange angle. Whatever it is it's definitely been broken off at an angle. It's probably worth bringing it in (obviously whenever this is feasible as I understand you're not on the Island) so they could have a proper look at it.  

 

Hopefully this helps, 

 

Theo 

[Roberta NJ CA]

I've heard this phrase before here as jdp referenced re: avoid prepping the "brown silty stuff" inner skull... Ive attempted to look it up but can't get a grasp on it.   Is it sandlike material or more hardened? I have some pieces that have a dark brown sandy or dirtlike material that pours out of the inside.  Anyone know what that is?

[Gideon]

Thanks Theo. I really appreciate your help there. I hope to visit the Island in a few months, so Ill stop in at the dinosaur isle when Im there......It does appear to be slightly crushed. Some of the thin bone seems to be broken and pushed sideways. Im intrigued to find out what it could be.

 

Hi Roberta. The brown silty material in the gaps is fairly hard. Ill be leaving the whole thing alone for now, as I'm bound to mess up any prepping!

 

Once Ive been to the museum Ill post their ideas.

 

Thanks again

Henry

[TXV24]

@Gideon No worries, hopefully I'm there when it comes in as it looks very interesting and I'd love to know what it is!