Please help ID possible Joint Bone

[Deborah S.]

My kids and I found what I think is likely a fossilized joint bone. We search in Late Cretaceous green marl. The bone is from a small stream a few miles from the Rowan Fossil Park (Sewell, NJ). We've found many fossils in this stream but are just starting to ask for help identifying them. The circumference around the side is 10.5 cm and around the top and bottom is 9 cm, and the height 1.5 cm.

[ynot]

Sorry, not a bone.

It is a stream tumbled chert with conchoidal fractures.

[Deborah S.]

ynot - Thank you very much for your reply! Do you have a moment to help me avoid wasting everyone's time by explaining how to tell chert from fossilized bone? I might be able to answer my question in part because this specimen is different from many of the other "bone-like" things I've found, in that it doesn't have the typical spongy looking holes and it feels heavier and more "stone-like" in the hand. I posted it because it was so different; I thought the inside might be marrow-like; it seemed to have more order to it than the typical rocks we find; and there seemed to be a prayer of identifying it because it seemed relatively whole. In addition to many more "bones" - some of which are whole enough to possibly be identified, I have shell-like specimens, what I think is coprolite, possible crocodile scute, and impression fossils. We find a lot of things that we also found at the Rowan University Fossil Park that they identified as bryozoans and deep sea turtle, so we know there's stuff in the stream. I'd love to be able to identify what we find - it's great for getting my kids interested in science - and I'm already interested. Should I post the specimens one at a time like this or a lot at once? Thank you for taking the time to read this far even if you don't have time to answer.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Deborah S.
punctuation

[ynot]

25 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

Do you have a moment to help me avoid wasting everyone's time by explaining how to tell chert from fossilized bone?

Oh, You just want to waste My time?

OK then,  typically chert will be denser with an amorphous structure, bone is not as dense and has a cellular structure.

Chert will have a conchoidal fracture (breaks like glass), bone has an uneven rough fracture.

31 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

 I might be able to answer my question in part because this specimen is different from many of the other "bone-like" things I've found, in that it doesn't have the typical spongy looking holes

This pretty much sums it up.

32 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

I'd love to be able to identify what we find

And We would like to help.

33 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

Should I post the specimens one at a time like this or a lot at once?

It is better to start a new thread for each piece, unless You think the pieces are related or the same (please number different pieces in one thread.). Start as many threads as You want, We all like looking at rocks and helping others with rock and fossil ids.

 

36 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

Thank you for taking the time to read this far even if you don't have time to answer.

You are welcome, and I had plenty of time for this!

 

Tony

[Rockwood]

The external surface of an unbroken fossil bone really doesn't look all that different than the surface of a modern bone. We often have trouble making the distinction in photographs.

[Deborah S.]

3 hours ago, Rockwood said:

The external surface of an unbroken fossil bone really doesn't look all that different than the surface of a modern bone. We often have trouble making the distinction in photographs.

Thank you for this tip. With yours and Tony's help I've been resorting potential fossils.

[ynot]

3 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

Thank you for this tip. With yours and Tony's help I've been resorting potential fossils.

[Deborah S.]

4 hours ago, ynot said:

OK then,  typically chert will be denser with an amorphous structure, bone is not as dense and has a cellular structure.

Thank you. I thought I knew what chert was and am finding out with your post that it can look very different than I thought.

4 hours ago, ynot said:

Chert will have a conchoidal fracture (breaks like glass), bone has an uneven rough fracture.

Very helpful tip. I'm resorting my fossils. I'd hoped that what you've identified as a conchoidal fracture was actually a joint, but you're helping me better distinguish what might be a joint and not.

4 hours ago, ynot said:

 

And We would like to help.

It is better to start a new thread for each piece, unless You think the pieces are related or the same (please number different pieces in one thread.). Start as many threads as You want, We all like looking at rocks and helping others with rock and fossil ids.

 

You are welcome, and I had plenty of time for this!

Thank you for your tips on posting and your gracious reply!

4 hours ago, ynot said:

 

 

[ynot]

2 minutes ago, Deborah S. said:

Thank you for your tips on posting and your gracious reply!

You are welcome, hope it helped.