DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 This Miocene/Pliocene bone was probably collected near the coast north of San Francisco in Marin or Sonoma Counties. Is this a whale bone? What part? Is the long narrow bone on top in the proper place relative to the other larger bones or is it unrelated? The length of the bone is 7.5 inches. Note that under the top bone, the 1 or 2 bones appear to have their bumpy and darker non cancellous surfaces exposed. @Boesse Thanks, John My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Here's a photo of the back: My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientEarth Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Is it light and brittle? Reminds me more of terrestrial mammal (Mammoth), rather than whale bone structure, Bobby would know best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 It has been filled with cemented sand and silt and is not brittle. It is from an area with other marine mammals. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientEarth Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 In that case... From what's left of it, based on what I see from the back photo, could be a shoulder bone with a rib laying across it from a whale or similar marine animal. How thick is the bone? If it's very thick, maybe part of the back of a skull, but again it's very worn. I'm however leaning towards the former. If you had a better idea of locality, back tracking the information of known animals would be easier. Marin & Sonoma counties are quite extensive. The Bay Area has a lot of Miocene to modern time geology exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 The bone is about 3 inches thick. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 I think the original form of the bone is going to be hard to discern. To me, the texture is similar to the trabecular bone in a cetacean vertebra. 2 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Thanks everyone. I am going to give this away to a younger collector. Now I can say with confidence that it is a chunk of Miocene/Pliocene whalebone. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 This is a very small chunk of an extremely large bone, and the preservation looks consistent with the Purisima Formation at Point Reyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 This bone came from a backyard in Bolinas, California and was probably collected in the area. Purisima Fm. makes sense. Thanks. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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