Plutoman15 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Hi all, I had this in my Montana turtle thread but though it needed its own thread. i found some more bone (float) in Eastern Montana coming out of a hill near (same bank but 30 yards away) where I found a turtle fossil last year. It is a variety of bones but 2 are interesting. The one is clearly a vertebrae and from a little research seems to be reptile but what kind? The other is a piece of bone with an interesting cavity in it. Can anyone identify either one? Here are the pics. thanks, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Could the bone-with-a-cavity-inside be a tooth? Does there appear to be enamel on its surface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plutoman15 Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 I thought maybe a tooth, claw, or maybe a piece broken off of a vertebrae. I looked at a lot of teeth pics and I haven’t found one with a cavaty like that. I am not sure about enamel. It is fairly smooth on the outside. Here is abother pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plutoman15 Posted August 18, 2018 Author Share Posted August 18, 2018 Found another vertabrae but this one is very different. No ball and socket. Completely flat. Decent size animal I would think. Ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Do you know what formation these fossils came from? Hell Creek is the one everyone associates with eastern MT but there is also the Fort Union formation which is Paleocene, directly proceeding the mass extinction which also preserves a freshwater environment. That info would probably help other forum members make a guess as to the identity of the fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Forget I said that, you gave the location on the first post about these fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plutoman15 Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 I believe this is Fort Union. The site is several miles East of Circle,MT. Hell creek is on either side but the map says I am Fort Union layers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanDye Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 11 hours ago, Plutoman15 said: Found another vertabrae but this one is very different. No ball and socket. Completely flat. Decent size animal I would think. Ideas? Don't take my word for it, but that vertebra is very reminiscent of Champsosaurus, and from my understanding your close to the Hell Creek area, which consequently, Champsosaurus has been found there before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 3 hours ago, RyanDye said: Don't take my word for it, but that vertebra is very reminiscent of Champsosaurus, and from my understanding your close to the Hell Creek area, which consequently, Champsosaurus has been found there before. Champsosaurus also survived into the Paleocene so it could still be from the Fort Union fm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plutoman15 Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 Couple more angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanDye Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 5 hours ago, PaleoNoel said: Champsosaurus also survived into the Paleocene so it could still be from the Fort Union fm. I wasn't suggesting it wasn't from Fort Union, but your right, also I'm not sure there was a 'Fort Union Formation' it's connected to the same river as the Hell Creek Formation as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 1 hour ago, RyanDye said: I wasn't suggesting it wasn't from Fort Union, but your right, also I'm not sure there was a 'Fort Union Formation' it's connected to the same river as the Hell Creek Formation as well. Maybe its only a subgroup of the larger Hell Creek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plutoman15 Posted August 20, 2018 Author Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks, it does seem to be a Champsosuarus tail bone. Would have taken me hours to sort through vertebrae pics. any guesses on the first vertebrae of the tooth looking bone? Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Vertebra that are flat on both sides is indicative of mammal in my mind. When trying to identify what group of animals a vertebra comes from I have found this link very helpful. Reptiles, mammals, birds and fish all have very different vertebra. This link explains the difference. http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/342notes2.htm That said there are some exceptions in the fossil record. Mosasaurs and Plesiosaurs for example are both reptiles from the same period, but their vertebrae look very different. Mosasaurs look like typical reptile verts. Plesiosaurs are almost flat and barely concave on both sides. So use the info with an open mind when it comes to fossils. I think I can see bone texture in the suspected tooth. So it may not be a tooth. The picture quality isn’t high enough to be able to zoom in and see details. It is helpful when taking pics to have the specimen take up at least half the photo view. Higher res helps too, but this site does have size limitations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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