My late Cretaceous lungfish from New Jersey

[frankh8147]

Hello all!

 

I was going to wait for the study to come out but I figure since it is now on display at the New Jersey State Museum, I would post this now. 

 

This is my late Cretaceous lungfish from Monmouth County New Jersey. It was first looked at here, on this forum (thread below) and was later confirmed by and donated to the NJSM. There have only two late Cretaceous lungfish fossils found from Eastern America so coming up with guy was a dream come true! It's currently being displayed at the NJSM for their "A Decade of Collecting" exhibit.

 

The study on these specimens should be out in a few months so more to come.  

 

@njfossilhunter

@Trevor

 

[FossilDAWG]

Congratulations!   It's rare that someone finds such an important specimen, and even rarer that it actually goes on exhibit! 

 

Don

[Fossildude19]

Excellent, Frank!

Congratulations!  

[JarrodB]

Great find Frank and good job donating. I wonder why these are not found in the cretaceous North Sulphur River Texas where I hunt? 

[JohnJ]

Well done, Frank and Tony.

[Al Dente]

17 minutes ago, JarrodB said:

Great find Frank and good job donating. I wonder why these are not found in the cretaceous North Sulphur River Texas where I hunt? 

It might be because lungfish are freshwater fish. That is why they are so rarely found in NJ sediments. 

[Heteromorph]

Spectacular find! Glad such an important specimen was put on display.

[Darktooth]

36 minutes ago, JarrodB said:

Great find Frank and good job donating. I wonder why these are not found in the cretaceous North Sulphur River Texas where I hunt? 

You are too busy finding arrowheads and mosasaurs.

[Darktooth]

Congratulations Frank, for a job well done!

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Great job! That's such an honour to find a specimen worth being published AND exhibited  

-Christian

[JarrodB]

2 hours ago, Al Dente said:

It might be because lungfish are freshwater fish. That is why they are so rarely found in NJ sediments. 

That makes sense lol. 

[belemniten]

Great find  Congrats!!

I found a triassic lungfish tooth recently but yours is much nicer and rarer  

[Jeffrey P]

Congratulations Frank. You must be stoked to have it on display in a museum. Few of us will ever achieve that honor.

[JarrodB]

5 hours ago, Darktooth said:

You are too busy finding arrowheads and mosasaurs.

Lol

[RJB]

  I dont mean to sound ignorant, but what about the rest of the fish?  Is it a soft bodied fish?  Is this the only part that fossilizes?  Still cool, dont want to take anything away. 

 

RB

[frankh8147]

2 hours ago, RJB said:

  I dont mean to sound ignorant, but what about the rest of the fish?  Is it a soft bodied fish?  Is this the only part that fossilizes?  Still cool, dont want to take anything away. 

 

RB

Thanks everyone! This is still probably my favorite find, to date.

 

@RJB I don't know as much about lungfish as I probably should but these tooth plates are the lungfish fossil I see the nost. With the free matrix environment of the New Jersey Cretaceous, I think finding any other identifiable part of a lungfish here would be very difficult.

[fossilized6s]

Wonderful find. Thank you for your donation. 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Cool.  I've only found a few partials in the Texas Permian.

 

[Ludwigia]

Congratulations! It's nice to see a donation go on display immediately.

[RJB]

10 hours ago, frankh8147 said:

I don't know as much about lungfish as I probably should but these tooth plates are the lungfish fossil I see the nost. With the free matrix environment of the New Jersey Cretaceous, I think finding any other identifiable part of a lungfish here would be very difficult.

Ok, now I have a better understanding.  Thanks

 

RB

[PFOOLEY]

You (three) are always finding fantastic Cretaceous treasures (and providing great information to boot). This is top notch...it must be thrilling to see something you have found on display! 

 

Well done, sir and congratulations...I am sure this will not be your last. 

[old bones]

That's wonderful, Frank! Congratulations. And it is terrific that it is on display .  

[sixgill pete]

Awesome!

[frankh8147]

Thanks everyone

[jdp]

Weird! Is this being studied?

 

More comments to come!