Calvert Cliffs MD bone ID

[frankh8147]

Hello!

 

I found this bone at Brownies Beach (Calvert Cliffs MD, Miocene) and have been trying to figure out what it is with no luck. Anyone know?

 

All help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!  -Frank

 

 

[The Jersey Devil]

It doesn't seem to have a bony texture, although the shape is interesting. Almost seems like a rock composed of some type of silicate. However, I can't make out the texture in most of the images.

[frankh8147]

59 minutes ago, The Jersey Devil said:

It doesn't seem to have a bony texture, although the shape is interesting. Almost seems like a rock composed of some type of silicate. However, I can't make out the texture in most of the images.

It is a strange texture.

 

I thought it had an overall 'bony' appearance and the holes in it resembled some Cetacean vertabrae I have seen (like the examples below) so that's why I was thinking bone. I haven't been able to find any with this shape however.

 

[ynot]

Does not look like a fossil to Me.

Does not look like bone either.

[Innocentx]

I think it may be endopachys, a coral.

[frankh8147]

Thanks for the replies! I tried to get some pictures to show the texture better, in case it helps.

 

Thanks again!

[Innocentx]

If you could retake this one with the kind of lighting you had when handheld, I think I would be able to see the corallites.

[frankh8147]

@Innocentx Here are some in that lighting. Also, what do you think about age?

 

Thanks again!!

[caldigger]

Looks like Mick Jaggers lips...he's a fossil!

[Miocene_Mason]

Definitely not typical bone preservation. Only coral I’ve ever found is astrhelia but I haven’t Fossil hunted that long.

[abyssunder]

Maybe the strange patterns are Beekite, trying to form rings.

[Innocentx]

I think it's similar to this one posted in 2011, which was ID'd as solitary scleractinian coral.

 

 

[frankh8147]

10 hours ago, Innocentx said:

I think it's similar to this one posted in 2011, which was ID'd as solitary scleractinian coral.

 

 

That texture looks to me! 

 

I haven't heard of these at Calvert Cliffs - is this something I should follow-up on (maybe let the Calvert Cliffs Museum know?) or is this a more common specimen I'm just not familiar with?

[Kimi64]

Can we please see the third view from the top taken again in natural sunlight? That one looks the most promising to me as it looks the most 'coraliferous' to coin a phrase. If you look at the top right hand area of the third image, it looks like there is at least one clear calyx (in the middle of what I presume are 3 calyces.)

[Innocentx]

12 hours ago, frankh8147 said:

I haven't heard of these at Calvert Cliffs - is this something I should follow-up on (maybe let the Calvert Cliffs Museum know?) or is this a more common specimen I'm just not familiar with?

When I saw your fossil I knew I'd seen something similar before in one of my books so I looked it up. I think yours has seen a lot of wear and I cannot ID it past knowing it's a different type of coral than the usual that I've seen. If you have time you could take it to this museum and see what they say. I'm curious to know.

[frankh8147]

18 hours ago, Kimi64 said:

Can we please see the third view from the top taken again in natural sunlight? That one looks the most promising to me as it looks the most 'coraliferous' to coin a phrase. If you look at the top right hand area of the third image, it looks like there is at least one clear calyx (in the middle of what I presume are 3 calyces.)

Here you go  

 

13 hours ago, Innocentx said:

When I saw your fossil I knew I'd seen something similar before in one of my books so I looked it up. I think yours has seen a lot of wear and I cannot ID it past knowing it's a different type of coral than the usual that I've seen. If you have time you could take it to this museum and see what they say. I'm curious to know.

Thank you for taking the time and looking it up! It's pretty interesting to me!

[Innocentx]

18 minutes ago, frankh8147 said:

It's pretty interesting to me!

Me too. I look forward to what local museum has to say.

[frankh8147]

On 9/25/2018 at 12:00 PM, Innocentx said:

Me too. I look forward to what local museum has to say.

@WhodamanHD

I received a response back from Stephen Godfrey at the Calvert Cliffs Museum and he believes it is a bone from the  sunfish, Ranzania (here is another thread on the topic below. 

 

After searching for Ranzania and Mola Chelonopsis (I had more luck researching the latter) I was able to find some similar examples.

 

Just wanted to give everyone the update!

 

-Frank

[Miocene_Mason]

5 minutes ago, frankh8147 said:

@WhodamanHD

I received a response back from Stephen Godfrey at the Calvert Cliffs Museum and he believes it is a bone from the  sunfish, Ranzania (here is another thread on the topic below. 

 

After searching for Ranzania and Mola Chelonopsis (I had more luck researching the latter) I was able to find some similar examples.

 

Just wanted to give everyone the update!

 

-Frank

Oh! I have heard of their beaks being found, is that what he said it was? Thanks for the update!

[frankh8147]

44 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Oh! I have heard of their beaks being found, is that what he said it was? Thanks for the update!

Yes, he said it is from Ranzania. Here is the thread I found (I forgot to include it in my last post) about it.

-Frank

 

 

[Innocentx]

I was thinking more along the lines of a fungia coral, a scleractinian.

 

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=664&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=kcXLW9OGEauCjwT6kLKYDg&q=fungia+coral+fossil&oq=fungia+coral+fossil&gs_l=img.3...204281.204281..204833...0.0..0.92.92.1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.6iH5fj2QmNc

 

To quote @Al Dente "I find scleractinian corals very difficult to identify."

 

I think the septa are worn off.

Edited October 21, 2018 by Innocentx
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