Carboniferous amphibian jaw?

[Strepsodus]

I found this in the Pennine Middle Coal Measures formation (upper Carboniferous) of West Yorkshire, UK, a while ago.  At the same site, shark teeth were common, as well as Rhizodonts and other fish fossils.  At first, I thought it was a fish jaw, but now I am unsure if it is indeed a fish jaw or an amphibian jaw.

Does anyone know what this is?

Thanks,

Daniel

[Fossildude19]

@jdp

[FossilDAWG]

Nice find!

Don

[westcoast]

Wow, great little find! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very nice indeed. 

[jdp]

Very nice little jaw. Hard to tell from the little bit that's present there but it seems that there are little acrodin caps on the teeth, which would suggest that this is a small ray-finned fish. I kind of want to attribute this to something like Amblypterus, but realistically it could also belong to an aeduellid or haplolepid. Isolated pieces of ray-finned fishes are really hard to narrow down phylogenetically.

[jdp]

Also, there's definitely more in there beneath the rock....you can see a slight bulge there. You can probably expose more with a needle and a LOT of patience, but be careful are these sorts of bones are often very fragile. Use the needle to gently abrade the overlaying rock, don't gouge and pick at it. Good luck! I look forward to seeing the rest of this!

[jpc]

Oooohhhh... nice little jaw.  

 

 

[Strepsodus]

1 hour ago, jdp said:

Very nice little jaw. Hard to tell from the little bit that's present there but it seems that there are little acrodin caps on the teeth, which would suggest that this is a small ray-finned fish. I kind of want to attribute this to something like Amblypterus, but realistically it could also belong to an aeduellid or haplolepid. Isolated pieces of ray-finned fishes are really hard to narrow down phylogenetically.

Thanks.  I found two jaws at this site though this is the best one I found.

[Petalodus12]

Is there any chance that this could be a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine? I have something very similar to this (found in near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Upper Carboniferous shale) and I had always identified it as a head spine. Very nice find by the way, hoping to see more of it as preparation continues!

[Strepsodus]

5 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

Is there any chance that this could be a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine? I have something very similar to this (found in near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Upper Carboniferous shale) and I had always identified it as a head spine. Very nice find by the way, hoping to see more of it as preparation continues!

Thanks for the suggestion.  Xenacanthus was found occasionally at this site though I think if it were a Xenacanthus head spine there would be points on both sides of the fossil.

 

[ynot]

10 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

t this could be a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine?

The "teeth" of a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine are part of the spine and look more like a saw tooth.

The piece in question shows teeth that are seperate from the jaw bone and are more  like fingers sticking out of it.

[Petalodus12]

7 hours ago, ynot said:

The "teeth" of a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine are part of the spine and look more like a saw tooth.

The piece in question shows teeth that are seperate from the jaw bone and are more  like fingers sticking out of it.

My specimen does have teeth that look more like saw teeth. Thanks for the info

[Ludwigia]

Very nice find!

[jdp]

19 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

Is there any chance that this could be a Xenacanthus/Orthacanthus head spine? I have something very similar to this (found in near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Upper Carboniferous shale) and I had always identified it as a head spine. Very nice find by the way, hoping to see more of it as preparation continues!

You want to post some pictures? I'm very familiar with Pittsburgh-area vertebrates and am happy to give you an identification.

[ynot]

1 hour ago, Petalodus12 said:

My specimen does have teeth that look more like saw teeth. Thanks for the info

I too would like to see pictures of it.

[Petalodus12]

On 4/13/2019 at 6:30 PM, ynot said:

I too would like to see pictures of it.

I will try to post some pictures; however, it is very small and the only camera I own is the one on my phone. I have a ton of stuff from the Pittsburgh area that I have wanted to post but I just haven't got around to it