Henry T Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Hello everyone. This is my first "identification" post. First and foremost: I purchased this from eBay for a reasonable price. That being said, even though the dealer is reputable and supposedly got it from a reputable source...well we know how that goes. The reason I bought it, is because 1)I can reasonably identify it as fossil. 2) The protruding object that got lodged in its sedimentary matrix, nearest to the transverse process? A tooth? So it was advertised as being disassembled and sold from a Plesiosaur vertebrae, named "Victoria". It was supposedly recovered from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Some observations: 1)The tooth-looking object. 2)It's unusually white color 3)The sandy sediment (more like a coastal recovery?) 3)Glue? on the superior part of the fossil?? Question:1)Is there reason to believe it may be from a Plesiosaur. (some from a different forum believe it may be a Miocene mammal? Dolphin?) Please forgive my lack of experience in this field...as I am very new to it. VERY new. LOL. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 But fairly typical vertebra from Khouribga, Morocco. It does look like a Plesiosaur vertebra. Likely Zarafasaura oceanis as that's the only plesiosaur that is described from that area. In that last photo there's a shark tooth visible that's embedded in the matrix. the different colours on the matrix are also fairly common, with the light beige and almost white with a hint of green with white bone. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Here is an example of a column of verts in a block from the same region. Courtesy of the Tucson Fossil show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Nice vert! “...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...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 A quite nice plesiosaur vertebra! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 I want to thank everyone for their input! One last question, the supposed shark tooth embedded in the sediment...is is probably an ancient ancestor of maybe...a mako shark of of the Eocene Epoch? I'm also curious when the land became non-aquatic? (to" guestimate" whether if it's a more recent fossilized tooth) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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