Chris Parry Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I found this yesterday on Bracklesham Bay beach and I think it could be the end of a squid beak. Can anyone confirm whether my guess is correct? Thanks Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Looks like one to Me. Nice find. 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Very nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Could also be part of an Aristotle's lantern. Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 If it is a squid beak it's almost certainly not a fossil as they're vanishingly rare and not preserved solid like that. Not sure what it is though - it's the wrong shape for a Belosaepia shell "prong" which is often mistakenly called a beak, and too narrow for a nautilus beak (which are quite common sometimes though hyper rare in the UK Eocene and a different, much squatter shape). The fibrous structure doesn't look like Aristotle's lantern which is calcite. Claw or bird beak??? 6 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 A rarely preserved or cast of a phragmocone of a coleoid? Or maybe a oddly preserved piece of a pedunculate barnacle? But definitely not a squid "beak". 2 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Whoops, guess I missed this one. 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parry Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parry Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 I found the ray and sharks teeth in the photo at the same time. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 @Auspex should know if it is bird or not. 1 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 10 minutes ago, ynot said: @Auspex should know if it is bird or not. Thanks, Tony! Yes, it is a bird beak; you can see the edge of the nares (on left, at top). I wish it were datable! 5 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parry Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Thanks @Auspex, what sort of bird would it have come from? Is there any way to get an indication of the date. Does the location from which it was found not help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 22 minutes ago, Auspex said: Thanks, Tony! Yes, it is a bird beak; you can see the edge of the nares (on left, at top). I wish it were datable! 10 minutes ago, Chris Parry said: Thanks @Auspex, what sort of bird would it have come from? Is there any way to get an indication of the date. Does the location from which it was found not help? Bird bones do occur in the Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) so it could be a very rare fossil if it's not modern. 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Parry Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Cool. Is there anyway of telling if it's modern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 51 minutes ago, Chris Parry said: Cool. Is there anyway of telling if it's modern? By appearance it is not recent, but that has no scientific merit as a determiner of age. Had it been found in situ in the matrix, we could confidently date it. Coming from "float", it cannot be dated by the local deposit. Absent a positive identification ascribing it to an extinct species (simply not possible with generic beaks), certainty will be elusive. A 'poor-man's test' is to check it for collagen (which normally breaks down during the mineralization process). This test is to apply a red hot probe to an inconspicuous spot, giving it a sniff as you do. If it smells like burnt hair, it is probably not ancient. It certainly has the look; I like it! 2 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Wow! An even better find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I collect modern skulls and this looks very much like the keratinized part of a birds beak to me. This is the structure that covers over the bone of the mandible. Without any scale it would be difficult to get very specific on which type of bird it may have come from. Unfortunately, it could be recent of older, as birds have been around for a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 If it (as appears in the image) to be pyritic, that would be a marker of an ancient origin. 14 hours ago, ClearLake said: this looks very much like the keratinized part of a birds beak to me To me, its texture looks like the pyritized underlying bone premaxillary. It is just the portion in front of and below the nostril. The keratin bill sheath would not endure what this appears to have been through. An image in proximal end view would settle it. 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Auspex said: To me, its texture looks like the pyritized underlying bone premaxillary. It is just the portion in front of and below the nostril. The keratin bill sheath would not endure what this appears to have been through. An image in proximal end view would settle it I would agree totally if indeed it is pyritized (or even “ heavy”) I just did not get that impression from the pictures. The very first picture (from the bottom of the beak) looked hollow to me and has a texture I have seen in the sheaths. It does look a little beat up, but beyond that I’m just guessing as to its condition from the pictures. Is it hollow? Is it lightweight (I know that is very relative, but relative to the other items you found for its size)? Here are a couple of modern examples of what I am talking about. The second picture (with the tape measure) looks about the size of yours and similar type shape. It is from a blue jay. Not sure what you have in England but I remember some sort of jay bird from over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now