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Shellseeker

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When you have a lot of fossil friends, you get involved in fossil stuff, which is a joy.  So, I have a friend who found in 2004, a Baleen Whale Jaw 20-25 feet below current land in a lake bed for housing development. Sounds like Miocene to me. I love Whale. He knows that and offered to sell me the jaw. It is out of my price range for fossil acquisitions.

I told him that I would try to get the jaw identified or at least get some options.  The jaw seems complete and is a tad over 6 feet in length. He and friends performed a LOT of work to retrieve it from the muck with as few breaks as possible, stabilize the pieces, mount it for display.  There is value for me just to have the photos.   So, I will tell you that in the Plaster Jacket Newsletter, Sept 1978 , Gary Morgan for the Florida Paleontology Society,  stated ".. a nearly complete mandible of Baleanoptera floridana, more than 6 feet in length was found near Pierce, in Polk County, Florida..."  and if this fossil is from an adult, it is not the equivalent of Blue, Grey, Fin, or Sei whales today.  A 6 foot mandible is relatively small for a Baleen Whale. I guess it could be a juvenile.  B. Floridana has been merged into B. Cortesii  .

That is as much as I know/guess and hoping a whale expert can add something to the identification. @siteseer @Boesse

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The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Baleanoptera floridana has also been listed in Bed 11 Tamiami.  Has Richard Hulbert been contacted?

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"A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington

"I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain

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That's mighty cool Jack. I saw a pic of that earlier in the newsletter. Hoping the experts can sort it out. 

Regards, Chris 

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2 hours ago, MikeR said:

Baleanoptera floridana has also been listed in Bed 11 Tamiami.  Has Richard Hulbert been contacted?

 

Not to my knowledge, Mike. I have had email communications with Richard this week on Nannippus Westoni and fossils from Shark Tooth Hill.

I'll send him a note.  It can not hurt and might help.   Jack

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Cool.  I collected a 50 lb section of Pliocene whale jaw years ago in coastal VA.  It has Chesapecten shells adhered to it for a little bonus character.

Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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