Bird bone from Aurora, NC?

[ziltoid]

I have been told this bone is avian, probably miocene but could be pliocene. The striations are perplexing to me. From Aurora, NC. Ruler scale is in cm.

I'd like to know what family it may belong to if possible 

[Al Dente]

Are you sure this is from Aurora? It is not a bird bone but is Cylindracanthus, a type of fish rostrum. It is most likely Eocene and from a different quarry. They are fairly common at several quarries that have Eocene Castle Hayne material.

[NWGeoFan]

I agree with @Al Dente's ID.                      Where exactly did you find the specimen? River bed? Quarry?  @ziltoid

[ziltoid]

Thanks guys! @Al Dente It sure does look like Cylindracanthus - @NWGeoFan I obtained this a long time ago from a dealer who most definitely had this mislabeled.  

[digit]

Cylindracanthus, a type of fossilized swordfish--pretty cool! I love it when I learn something new on this forum. Before scrolling down I would have thought it to be something like an echinoid spine (though I know of none featuring this sort of composition).

 

From what little I know about the quarry in Aurora, NC most of the fossil material comes from the Miocene Pungo River Formation and the Pliocene Yorktown formation which overlays it. The Pungo does un-conformably lie above the the Eocene Castle Hayne Limestone formation. Having not yet made it up to Aurora, I don't know if the quarry goes deep enough (some 40 meters or so) to reach down to the tops of the Castle Hayne. If this came second hand from a dealer rather than being personally collected, the exact collection location may surely be in error. I think you can trust the ID and formation information from @Al Dente as he knows his home turf well.

 

Cool fossil, BTW.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken