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Found at the Jersey Shore... Please tell me it's not a human hand


jstewnews

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This was found on the Jersey Shore - a beach on the western Atlantic. I unfortunately don't have a scale, but it measures 3 inches x 4 inches (7.6 cm x 10.2 cm). Any idea what it is?

61122726_10157034463445210_5815179972670652416_o.jpg

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29 minutes ago, Peace river rat said:

Bear is my unexpert, opinion.

 

Certainly not human

I was thinking that it might be a bear too... literally the only thing I know about fossils is that sometimes bear feet look like bare feet.

 

Does it matter that it was found on the surf, rather than inland where a bear is more likely to be found? Granted, shorelines change all the time.

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Since when do humans or bear have exoskeletons ?

I can't really say more than what it's not though.

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Some type of crab maybe? 

@Plax

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Crab was my first thought here.  

 

Cropped and rotated: 

 

 

61122726_10157034463445210_5815179972670652416_o.jpg.aa20e3e232df80a287e2c569e490f790.jpg

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Likely not a horseshoe crab and definitely not a bear. Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fossils are pretty common in the Pleistocene nearshore deposits of the northeast and preserve just like this.

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My first thought was blue crab as well but the legs looked funny "too beefy" to me but scale probably has me fooled.  I guess I am coming back towards blue on second look but not convinced 100%.  "Crab" of some type for sure though.

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On 5/27/2019 at 3:34 PM, jstewnews said:

I was thinking that it might be a bear too... literally the only thing I know about fossils is that sometimes bear feet look like bare feet.

 

Does it matter that it was found on the surf, rather than inland where a bear is more likely to be found? Granted, shorelines change all the time.

No.  Fossils get moved around all the time.  What is currently under water at the Joisey Shore was once dry land during the Pleistocene

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

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+1 for crab.  Nifty beach find

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

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4 hours ago, Carl said:

Likely not a horseshoe crab

Morphology aside, horseshoe crab shell is composed of chitin. Crab shells are composed of calcite in a chitin matrix giving them a higher preservation potential.

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1 minute ago, Rockwood said:

Morphology aside, horseshoe crab shell is composed of chitin. Crab shells are composed of calcite in a chitin matrix giving them a higher preservation potential.

Thanks, Rocky! Didn't know that!

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Just now, Carl said:

Thanks, Rocky! Didn't know that!

Suspected it, but just got through checking it myself.

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