Becca Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Forgive any inaccuracies, I haven’t hunted for fossils since childhood on the South coast of England so very much a novice. I found this whilst scouting out a new vineyard site in Waipara Gorge, New Zealand which is a pretty rich area for fossils (mostly Paleogene, and Cretaceous from what I’ve read). It was at the very top of an escarpment rather than the river banks where most are found and definitely in limestone, though I couldn’t tell you the exact type. There’s not much structure left to it (close up picture gives a better idea) but are these vertebrae and any idea what from? About 2cm diameter and 30cm in length. If anyone has any experience with this area I’d love to know more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoast Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Looks like the trace fossil Taenidium 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Thank you, that’s interesting and makes a lot more sense as it has no discernable structure! If anyone knows anything more about the region (giant penguins and mosasaurs I’ve read about) I’d be appreciative as I’ll likely be digging into a lot of limestone in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I agree, very similar to Taenidium satanassi. 4 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...
RJB Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Very interesting, but what is 'meniscate' backfills? RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I myself know little about this area (though some here know more), but here’s what the geologic map says. Nice find by the way, a cool looking trace fossil indeed. 1 “...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...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 2 hours ago, RJB said: meniscate I would infer horizontally layered, but that’s a guess “...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...
Fossildude19 Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 2 hours ago, RJB said: Very interesting, but what is 'meniscate' backfills? RB Meniscate means "crescent shaped in cross section." Backfill is when a creature pushes sediment out of its way from in front to the rear, backfilling the tunnel/burrow/hole it is making. 2 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...
Fruitbat Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Becca... Welcome to The Fossil Forum! You might find a few interesting articles in the Australia/New Zealand section of my pdf library here on TFF. Here's a LINK. Just scroll down to the section on New Zealand. -Joe 1 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: Meniscate means "crescent shaped in cross section." Backfill is when a creature pushes sediment out of its way from in front to the rear, backfilling the tunnel/burrow/hole it is making. Thanks Tim. You explainded that so easy and so simply that I feel like im back in the 3rd grade. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 I have been away for a few day but I would not rule out marine reptile. Look like a string of Ichthyosaur vertebrae that are known from NZ but rare. The other option is a pliosaur. I would send the photos to one of the museums for an appraisal. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 48 minutes ago, Mike from North Queensland said: I have been away for a few day but I would not rule out marine reptile. Look like a string of Ichthyosaur vertebrae that are known from NZ but rare. The other option is a pliosaur. I would send the photos to one of the museums for an appraisal. Mike If the geologic map isn’t wrong then that would be impossible (well very unlikely) but who knows. “...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...
Mike from North Queensland Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Did not look at the geologic map but there is a record of an indeterminate fossil Pliosauriade being found in the Waipara River being late cretaceous (maastrichtian ) in one of my books on Australian and New Zealand Dinosaurs but includes all mesozoic animals. Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Hard to say for certaintity what it is, but I'm in the ichnofossil camp. My first tought was Scoyenia, but there are similar other ones which might be considered. excerpt fromT. Good & A. Ekdale. 2014. Paleoecology and taphonomy of trace fossils in the eolian upper triassic/lower jurassic nugget sandstone, Northeastern Utah. Palaios 29: 401–413 " 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...
Mike from North Queensland Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Here are a couple of photos of ichthyosaur verts in limestone that have been bisected when the host rock split for comparison from my collection. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now