matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I got this off eBay as an impulse purchase. It was described as a mammoth bone from Alaska, but I don't know what bone. What am I looking at? Thanks, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 Other photos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 ... And another, with my hand for scale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Size? 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...
Fossildude19 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Atlas vertebra? Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 Just now, ynot said: Size? Should be clear from the last photo, but let me know if you need actual dimensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 3 minutes ago, matgerke said: Should be clear from the last photo, but let me know if you need actual dimensions. Hands are variable in size, so do not make a good scale. You should always include a scale (ruler preferred) or the measurements. 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...
goatinformationist Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yeah, I'll go with atlas to. Gave one of those to my nephew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 Dimensions are about 6.5 inches x 4 in x 4 in. Somehow it doesn't look to me like the images of wooly mammoth atlases that I see online. Take the hole, for instance: it's round, while the holes I see on atlases for mammoths are more figure eight. Could it be a wooly rhino? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 A picture of the hole might be helpful. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 minute ago, Fossildude19 said: A picture of the hole might be helpful. Yes, I suppose it would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Maybe whale? Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 16 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: Maybe whale? It was found pretty far inland (Tanana River). Whale seems unlikely. Although I realize I just suggested Wooly Rhino, which has never been found in Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 @Boesse Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Not from a cetacean and far too small for elephant - suggest making comparisons with large ungulates - bison, muskox, moose, etc. and ground sloths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 That’s a weird atlas, I haven’t seen anything like it (although I don’t stare at atlas vertabrae much). I can’t wait to see what the consensus is have you seen anything akin to it @Harry Pristis? “...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...
jpc Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I agree with boesse that it is not whale, but it is huge for an ungulate. And it looks weird for an elephant. Are there sloths known form Alaska? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 3 hours ago, Boesse said: Not from a cetacean and far too small for elephant - suggest making comparisons with large ungulates - bison, muskox, moose, etc. and ground sloths. I agree with Boesse, an ungulate, likely bovine, but I wouldn't recognize a moose atlas. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 excerpt from E. Schmid. 1972. Atlas of Animal Bones. For Prehistorians, Archaeologists and Quaternary Geologists. Elsevier, New York. " 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...
BobWill Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Great resource. Since the smallest, roundish neural canal orifice looks to be Cervus, Harry might be right with Moose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yes, definitely an atlas vertebra of a large mammal. It's the wrong shape for Mammoth. I agree that it could be something like a bovid or cervid. Though I don't have any reference on me right now. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 Thanks for all the input, folks! Really appreciate the wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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