Marine Fossil Three Serrated Edges Late Pleistocene to Pliocene Southern California

[MightyPretzel]

Happy holidays everyone. I would greatly appreciate help identifying the following specimen.

 

It was collected in the Santa Susana Mountains of Simi Valley, Ventura County, California. It came from the Saugus or Pico Formation. Saugus is late Pleistocene to late Pliocene while Pico is middle Pleistocene to Pliocene. My uncertainty regarding the exact formation arises from the fact that (1) it was float material already weathered out of the formation it came from and (2) based on limited research and knowledge, I believe there has been a lack of consenus regarding differentiation of the two formations (see recent work by Richard Squires et al. in Valencia and R. Squires in Newhall).

 

I assume it is marine since all of Pico is marine and Saugus is non-marine to marine. At first I thought it was a shark tooth when I picked it up but I threw that thought out the window when I realized it had three serrated edges. Measures 22 millimeters long and 6.5 millimeters wide. It is 4 millimeters tall on one end and 9.5 millimeters tall on he end that has the needle structure. There are three to four 'bumps' on both long sides on the end with the needle. The bumps look evenly spaced.

 

I can and will do my best to provide additional info if needed.

 

[MightyPretzel]

More pictures.

 

 

 

[MightyPretzel]

I have two more pictures but cannot upload because I'm only allowed to upload a total of 3.95 MB. Did I step through a time portal and emerge in the year 2003?

 

[Al Dente]

Looks like part of a crab leg, maybe even the claw. Pretty neat looking.

[Tidgy's Dad]

13 minutes ago, MightyPretzel said:

I have two more pictures but cannot upload because I'm only allowed to upload a total of 3.95 MB. Did I step through a time portal and emerge in the year 2003?

 

You're lucky.old chap. 

2003?

I'm currently stuck in the Mid Ordovician.

If you refresh your browser or exit the thread and then go back in again you should be able to add more pictures over the limit. 

[MightyPretzel]

On 12/9/2018 at 12:37 PM, Al Dente said:

Looks like part of a crab leg, maybe even the claw. Pretty neat looking.

 

Thanks Al, I'll put that on my list of possible suspects.

[MightyPretzel]

On 12/9/2018 at 12:50 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

You're lucky.old chap. 

2003?

I'm currently stuck in the Mid Ordovician.

If you refresh your browser or exit the thread and then go back in again you should be able to add more pictures over the limit. 

 

Ha, I think I would rather be there! Thanks for the helpful hint, I'll keep that in mind for the future. This pic is of the third side.

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

I think @Al Dente nails one again. A crab leg of some sort ....   Just a cursory search pulls up this image.  A crab from the family Parthenopidae. Not exact of course but it looks to be warmer at least has some similar morphological qualities. Now you just have to narrow it down ... haha.  Good luck.

 

I'm getting hungry ....

 

Descriptions of fossil crabs from California:

https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/10728/10728.pdf

 

 

Source of image:

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-64972017000100220

 

 

Image Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenopidae

 

 

 

Cool specimen .. good luck.

 

Cheers,

Brett

 

 

[Al Dente]

Here’s a similar one from the Pleistocene of California. This one is labeled Mesorhoea idae. The second photo has the title of the publication.

[abyssunder]

3 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Here’s a similar one from the Pleistocene of California. This one is labeled Mesorhoea idae. The second photo has the title of the publication.

That's a really good match!

[Max-fossils]

Wow, congrats @Al Dente on that spot-on ID. I would have never guessed that, well done!

Pretty cool find! 

[MightyPretzel]

Excellent match and very awesome. Thank you Al, Brett, and everyone else for the helpful comments. Now if I can only find the rest of it ...

 

[MrR]

Very cool fossil. I had heard that marine fossils are occasionally found in the Simi Hills. I have lived in the area for many years, but only recently became interested in fossils, etc. There is an area to the south of Simi, in Agoura Hills, that has a trail that runs by a wall that is called the "Baleen Wall". This may be because a whale skeleton was found there some years ago. Then again, it might just be a tall "tail", told by locals. Next time I saddle up my mountain bike, I might just go check it out. Congrat's on your find. Cheers.

 

 

[MB]

On 11/12/2018 at 12:02 PM, Al Dente said:

Here’s a similar one from the Pleistocene of California. This one is labeled Mesorhoea idae. The second photo has the title of the publication.

Good eye !