GeschWhat Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 I have been finding a lot of inclusions in a batch of coprolites from the Smoky Hill Chalk that assumed were bits of cartilage. One of the newer specimens from that batch had a piece of the material in question on the surface; enabling me to view it from the side. They look like little teeth, so now I don't know what I have. I have one other specimen that has a couple of the little tooth-like structures intact (one that I posted a while back that has possible Ptychodus tooth fragments). Is this skin with denticles, cartilage, a skull part or some sort of tooth plate? As always, any help is greatly appreciated. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Here is another coprolite with similar material embedded. I don't know if it helps, but the visible scales and some of the bones on this one look like they might be from a lobe-finned fish. I'm waiting for a few more to arrive before I try exposing anything on this. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Albulid tooth plates maybe? They look similar to some I found in the Britton Shale (Eagle Ford Group) here in north Texas. Smokey Hill Chalk has similar fauna as the Eagle Ford and Austin. 2 Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Sure looks like fish tooth plate. Here's an image from Harry's collection: 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said: Albulid tooth plates maybe? They look similar to some I found in the Britton Shale (Eagle Ford Group) here in north Texas. Smokey Hill Chalk has similar fauna as the Eagle Ford and Austin. Do you happen to have a species in mind? All I am seeing is the rounded crushing teeth. Here are a couple more photos from another coprolite showing more pointy tooth-like structures. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 1 hour ago, GeschWhat said: Do you happen to have a species in mind? All I am seeing is the rounded crushing teeth. Here are a couple more photos from another coprolite showing more pointy tooth-like structures. The pieces I found were from Deltaichthyes albuloides. I don’t know if that particular fish is found in the Smokey Hill Chalk. Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 6 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said: The pieces I found were from Deltaichthyes albuloides. I don’t know if that particular fish is found in the Smokey Hill Chalk. Thanks...it's a place to start Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Lori, I'm not so well-versed on these, but are you sure that specimens in the second picture / B are scales? " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 15 hours ago, abyssunder said: Lori, I'm not so well-versed on these, but are you sure that specimens in the second picture / B are scales? No...just a guess. You thinking part of the skull? There is one peaking out of another specimen in this group as well, just not as exposed. I thought that might be a skull plate of some sort. I am not all that familiar with this formation. I had the opportunity to get a group from a single source, of which many had similar inclusions. I'm just trying to learn...and all of you are the best teachers! Here is a micro image of the one from another coprolite. Once I get the remainder of the group, I might start trying to expose things a little more. I just hate to use destructive measures if I don't have to. 1 Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Delicious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 4 hours ago, GeschWhat said: No...just a guess. You thinking part of the skull? There is one peaking out of another specimen in this group as well, just not as exposed. I thought that might be a skull plate of some sort. I am not all that familiar with this formation. I had the opportunity to get a group from a single source, of which many had similar inclusions. I'm just trying to learn...and all of you are the best teachers! Here is a micro image of the one from another coprolite. Once I get the remainder of the group, I might start trying to expose things a little more. I just hate to use destructive measures if I don't have to. No, my thought was on a totally different thing. More precisely, I put in consideration the possibility of juvenile? Baculites rugaptychi. Baculites lower jaws were found and described from the lower Campanian Smoky Hill Chalk Member, Niobrara Chalk, Logan County, Kansas. Here are some examples: excerpt from N.L. Larson and N.H. Landman. 2017. Description of the lower jaws of Baculites from the Upper Cretaceous U.S. Western Interior. Acta Geologica Polonica, 67 (1): 109–120. 4 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 @abyssunder I never would have thought of that! Since there were so many fish parts, I figured it was related. I think you are be right. Here is another micro image that shows what might be the flange. What do you think? Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 I think it could be that. 3 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 @abyssunder you are a rock star! Based on baculite jaw id, I found synchrotron X-ray microtomography imagery of their radula. I think I have been mistaking radula for small unusual fish bones. Here is some more imagery (with reference added) that I found online. I so love the weird and wonderful world of coprolite! I have to find a way to have these scans done. 3 Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 You never know what can be in a coprolite. Good research, Lori! 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 On 11/8/2017 at 7:31 PM, Ptychodus04 said: The pieces I found were from Deltaichthyes albuloides. I don’t know if that particular fish is found in the Smokey Hill Chalk. Do you happen to have photos of your pieces? I tried to do a search on this and got nothing. Well, I got one thing, but got a weird message when I tried to click on it. I contacted Mike Everhart with Oceans of Kansas. According to him, not much research has been done on the smaller fish. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 1 hour ago, GeschWhat said: Do you happen to have photos of your pieces? I tried to do a search on this and got nothing. Well, I got one thing, but got a weird message when I tried to click on it. I contacted Mike Everhart with Oceans of Kansas. According to him, not much research has been done on the smaller fish. I don’t have any photos (lost a bunch in a catastrophic hard drive failure) but I will try to run down to the Perot and see if I can find them in the collection. I donated a ton of stuff a decade ago and they were in the lot. Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagebrush Steve Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 On 11/11/2017 at 11:29 AM, Ptychodus04 said: I don’t have any photos (lost a bunch in a catastrophic hard drive failure) but I will try to run down to the Perot and see if I can find them in the collection. I donated a ton of stuff a decade ago and they were in the lot. Two words for you: cloud backups. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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