Please help ID round bone

[Deborah S.]

I found this round bone in a streambed of green marl near Sewell, NJ. According to the Rowan University Fossil Park a few miles away, their green marl is Cretaceous. I think it's bone because of the spongy texture. I thought it was recent at first (my daughter found a recent jawbone with teeth in the stream) but this feels rocklike and sounds rocklike when tapped on a hard surface.

[ynot]

Does not look like bone to me., it has the wrong texture for bone.

[abyssunder]

It might have some cetacean epiphysis character, but I'm not a specialist in this.
Could you post a picture in lateral view?

[caldigger]

3 hours ago, abyssunder said:

It might have some cetacean epiphysis character, but I'm not a specialist in this.
Could you post a picture in lateral view?

Yes, is it relatively flat like a "cookie"?

[Deborah S.]

3 hours ago, abyssunder said:

It might have some cetacean epiphysis character, but I'm not a specialist in this.
Could you post a picture in lateral view?

Thank you for your reply. Yes. Here are two lateral views. One is taken from the low side and the other from the high side.

[Deborah S.]

22 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Yes, is it relatively flat like a "cookie"?

Relatively flat, yes. But one side is convex and the other slightly concave as these lateral views show. Thank you for your question.

[caldigger]

Not an Epiphysis then. It would need to be flat like a waffer cookie. 

[Deborah S.]

15 hours ago, caldigger said:

Not an Epiphysis then. It would need to be flat like a waffer cookie. 

Yes. Cetacean Epiphysis is new to me. The pictures I saw online were flat. I don't know if years of stream tumbling could make it look like mine or if it would have just broken apart.

[Shellseeker]

Very Interesting, Let's see if we can expand our knowledge of Epiphysis. Do they occur in most mammals, in addition to Cetacean?

You might be interested in this Thread

Here is one that I am certain is Cetacean

[ynot]

I still say this is a rock not a bone (fossil).

[Deborah S.]

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Very Interesting, Let's see if we can expand our knowledge of Epiphysis. Do they occur in most mammals, in addition to Cetacean?

You might be interested in this Thread

Here is one that I am certain is Cetacean

Thank you. That was a very interesting thread. Your finds were amazing. Thank you also for the helpful pictures. I've learned more about fossils in the past few days than in the past several months.

[Deborah S.]

26 minutes ago, ynot said:

I still say this is a rock not a bone (fossil).

Of all the objects I have, this is the one I was most certain was bone. I thought it even might be recent bone. The stream leaves that thick rusty brown patina on everything. Oh well, I am learning at least. I have a potential belemnite to post (I'm sure it will just be weird quartzite though) and then I'll try some more "bone" or maybe "turtle shell." Right now the kids want to go to the stream.

[ynot]

1 hour ago, Deborah S. said:

this is the one I was most certain was bone.

If You look at the left side of the picture that shellseeker posted, You see a radiating pattern. The pattern seems to be consistent on emphasis epiphysis bone. It is not on Your piece.

As for it being a different bone, the pattern and structure is more of a random one than a cellular one.  Also the "grain" of the rock does not change from one side to the other, only the texture.

 

At least that is what I am seeing.

[jpc]

emphasis must be an autocorrect for epiphysis.

The radiating pattern thing is true for vertebral epiphyses, but not for long bone epiphyses.  I don't think this is such a bone; it does look more rockish, esp the texture on the non-spongy side, but tough to tell from here.   

[ynot]

17 minutes ago, jpc said:

emphasis must be an autocorrect for epiphysis.

Either that or My dyslexia strikes again.

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, Deborah S. said:

 

1 hour ago, Deborah S. said:

Of all the objects I have, this is the one I was most certain was bone. I thought it even might be recent bone. The stream leaves that thick rusty brown patina on everything. Oh well, I am learning at least. I have a potential belemnite to post (I'm sure it will just be weird quartzite though) and then I'll try some more "bone" or maybe "turtle shell." Right now the kids want to go to the stream.

Well Deborah, there were numerous times when my hopes had me believing that a river object was a fossil. Many experts on TFF helped me differentiate.  I also think it leans more to geologic than fossil.  However, I know someone @Harry Pristis who is a lot better at this than I am....

1 hour ago, Deborah S. said:

Right now the kids want to go to the stream.

That's only ONE of the rewards... There are numerous fossils in NJ... If you google "jersey site:www.thefossilforum.com", you will find some great locations to visit. Good Luck,   Jack

[abyssunder]

Can you determine its specific gravity?

[Deborah S.]

1 hour ago, abyssunder said:

Can you determine its specific gravity?

Not at present. My only beaker with small enough gradations to measure its displacement in water is not wide enough to accept the specimen. I'll have access to the equipment I'd need tomorrow morning. It displaces so little water in my beaker with 25 mL gradations that I can't accurately measure its volume. The little holes release lots of air bubbles though. It also feels much lighter than a piece of chert just a little bit bigger, although my gram scale isn't sensitive enough to accurately measure the difference. I'll see what I can get at the resource room tomorrow.

[Deborah S.]

3 hours ago, jpc said:

 

The radiating pattern thing is true for vertebral epiphyses, but not for long bone epiphyses.  I don't think this is such a bone; it does look more rockish, esp the texture on the non-spongy side, but tough to tell from here.   

Maybe I could take some vinegar and a toothbrush to it, especially if we're pretty certain it's just rock. Removing the rust, alga, and dirt goop might make the pattern on the convex side more discernible.

[Deborah S.]

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Well Deborah, there were numerous times when my hopes had me believing that a river object was a fossil. Many experts on TFF helped me differentiate.  I also think it leans more to geologic than fossil.  However, I know someone @Harry Pristis who is a lot better at this than I am....

 

It's better to actually know what something is than to go on thinking it's something its not. TFF has been absolutely wonderful these past few days.

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

That's only ONE of the rewards... There are numerous fossils in NJ... If you google "jersey site:www.thefossilforum.com", you will find some great locations to visit. Good Luck,   Jack

Yes. Even if we don't find much of anything, I'm thrilled that the kids are into science. I'm going to post our fossil and rock soup from the 30 minutes we were able to spend hunting today on a new thread. Thank you for the website tip!