Mike from North Queensland Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I found this little specimen that I assume is a jaw section a while back when sieving through some matrix. The material that it came from is marine from the toolebuc formation in central Queensland Australia this is cretaceous albian in age. Any input I would be grateful for. The specimen is 4mm on the long so quite small Regards Mike 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DatFossilBoy Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Fish jaw methinks. Other people might be able to ID the specie. Regards 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 My first thought is reptile (lizard or snake), but could be fish. Maybe @old bones can help. 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...
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Kinda reminds me of an anguimorph/lizard jawbone I saw in a book on Wealden fossils -Christian 4 Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf89 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I agree with lizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Cool find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocentx Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Awesome! "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Sorry I'm late to the party... thanks @ynot. I think it looks like a partial lizard jaw as well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Nice find! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Squamates (lizards and amphisbaenians) and amphibians (frogs and salamanders) have very similar jaws and teeth. Unless you are an expert, you won’t be able to tell the difference. Fish teeth sit on the top of the jaw. Most lizards', amphisbaenians', frogs' and salamanders' teeth sit on a ledge that is on the inside of the jaw and the teeth run up along the inside of the jaw. The teeth are pedicellate with functional tooth crowns. The teeth on this specimen do look very similar to squamate or amphibian teeth. However, I can’t see if the teeth are sitting on a ledge from the pictures. I had hundreds of partial lizard jaws (I donated them all) from our Oligocene ranch in Nebraska. Below are pictures of two partial jaws where you can see the ledge and the teeth running up the inside of the jaw. Marco Sr. 8 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 The bone quality looks more fishy than lizardy from here. And the teeth seem to be perched on the edge pf the jaw (see marco's comments, although varanid teeth sit on the top edge of the jaw as well.) I think this is fish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Thanks all for the input particularly Marco Sr and Christian for the added information. On 25/01/2019 at 12:12 AM, MarcoSr said: ledge and the teeth running up the inside of the jaw. The specimen does not appear to have a ledge on the inside of the specimen so most likely not lizard. Tried to get better photos with limited success. The teeth seem to sit within a groove in the bone section and from the shape of the bone I suspect is part of the upper dentition. With my USB microscope I cant get a sharp enough focus on the teeth but the front three and second from other end look to be tapered similar to the lizard ones in Marco Sr post. With the amount and position of teeth with the crowns tapered I suspect this is a functional adaptation. The rest are broken and it appears they were hollow as I can see evidence of crystal infilling. This one I will have to get someone to look at. Mike 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 4 hours ago, Mike from North Queensland said: This one I will have to get someone to look at. Mike Mike It is always best to have an expert look at a specimen. They may see a definitive feature right away that we wouldn't even notice. I'm lucky, because I donate a good amount of specimens and often deal with shark, bony fish, reptile, amphibian, bird, and mammal researchers, I know a good number of experts that I can send pictures to for a quick id. If it is a specimen of scientific value, I then donate it. This is good in that I usually get a quick ID. But I would probably learn a lot more if I did more research myself on the internet and read more papers and books. However I prefer spending my time finding the specimens, than researching them. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection 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