TXV24 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Hi, I headed out yesterday morning to Bouldnor Cliff on the early morning low tide for what would be a rather "interesting" collecting trip (finger numbingly cold weather followed by getting badly bitten by a loose dog). I picked up some nice pieces including a Bothriodon jaw, and this very nice metatarsal bone. My initial ideas were that it was crocodilian however after doing research online I've seen quite a few similar looking metatarsals in variety of other animals, so I was wondering if anyone would be able to lend a hand in IDing it. It seems to be fairly intact apart from slight damage to the proximal and distal ends. It's 7.5cm long and 0.7cm wide, with a very flat and thin profile. Unfortunately when the dog bit me I dropped my collecting bag smashing the bone in half, so I've had to glue it back together as best I can. Thank you, Theo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Can't help you with the ID, but mice find, shame it got broken and sorry you got bitten. Luckily, they don't have rabies on the Isle of Wight! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 No idea but another of your cool finds. John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 My first impression is a pinniped, but that is a guess. Let's see if @Boesse, .@Harry Pristis can shed some lior ght on this one. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Nope! Not a marine mammal. No idea on this one, other than it is a critter that can run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXV24 Posted November 28, 2017 Author Share Posted November 28, 2017 @Boesse Out of curiosity what features indicate that the animal could run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 15 minutes ago, TXV24 said: @Boesse Out of curiosity what features indicate that the animal could run? Before here answers this correctly with his expertise, I’ll say I remember from a course a while back that long, thin metatarsal bones are indicative of a cursorial lifestyle. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 Essentially what @WhodamanHD said - long, narrow tube-like leg and foot bones are adaptations for running. In marine mammals limb bones are shortened with greatly enlarged muscle attachments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 The metacarpal of the smallest toe of Bothriodon looks similar to that bone (see Rose, 2006: p. 294, fig. 14.20). Is Bothriodon the most common mammal found there? A friend in the UK once sent me a couple of crocodile teeth from Bouldnor Cliff - Late Eocene stuff in case anyone is wondering. Jess Rose, K.D. 2006. The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press. 428 pages. P.S. I think Rose's is a must-have book for not just those that collect Paleogene mammal fossils. Anyone interested in mammals should have it too. I wrote a book review of it for the forum in the "Fossil Literature" section if anyone is curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXV24 Posted December 1, 2017 Author Share Posted December 1, 2017 @Boesse @WhodamanHD Thanks for explaining that, there's lot's of metapodial pieces out on the coast so it'll help with discerning what they came from. @siteseer Thank you for your help. Bothriodon is the most common mammal there by leaps and bounds, I'd say 80% of my mammal material is either from Bothriodon or Bothriodont anthracotheres (Elomeryx occurs here too) so it would make a lot of sense. I've actually got a copy of that book but didn't think to check it because I was convinced it was crocodilian at first, looking at the monograph there's a definite resemblance so I think that could be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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