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Hello everyone! I recently visited France twice to hunt for fossils. I wanted to visit Villers-sur-mer at least once before the interdiction to collect and I was rewarded with an amazing vertebra: Guess it's marine crocodile, since the shape doesn't fit with ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs or dinosaurs. Here it is cleaned up sitting in it's little box: I also found this mystery really eroded bone. It's quite big and chunky: Would anyone have an idea on what it's from/which bone it is? Then the mystery from Wimereux. At first I thought it was petrified wood, but it's dry now and it doesn't crumble. It's hard, heavy and there's some pyrite going through it: Would anyone have an idea? Thank you!

Hello everyone. I'm not sure if this vertebra comes from the Tyrannosauridae family? It comes from Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, China. the size of the vertebra is 22cm. Thank you for all the answers.

Thanks in advance for your help! Post Oak Creek, Sherman, Texas. Turtle scute or part of vertebra?

This was found inland in Sarasota county. It's clearly a vertebra. Most people seem to say that it's from a whale? Can't it be any large fish or animal? Any insight would be appreciated.

Hello! I recently found this lamnoid shark vertebra in Tampa Bay along the shore. I think it's from a great white shark and assume it's fossilized, but I'm not sure. What do you think?

Hi all - found this in Central Texas. It was a surface find in an area mapped as Ozan formation. Thought it was an old railroad spike at first. Is there enough left of it to give a general ID? Kind of looks like some mosasaur vert pics I’ve seen. Any ideas appreciated. Thanks!

I found this vertebra... and another one similar in shape. It has a bunch of wear and is broken all over. It is fully mineralized. I've been trying to compare it to other mammals and can't find a match. I know there are SOOO MANY possibilities but maybe someone might know what it is from or can send me in a certain direction. Size is: 3.25 inches at the widest. Sorry...was still cleaning the algae off of it.

Hi all, This is a follow-on from the first post in my ‘Adventures in Thin Sectioning’ thread where I showed this fossil from the Aust bone bed. I wanted to have it scanned so that I have a record of both halves before I try to make histological sections of the ‘offcut’. Luckily, my department has a micro X-ray CT scanner (Nikon XT H 225ST) and when there was a gap in demand I was able to book time for a couple hours of scanning. I got three separate scans done, the two pieces of the Aust block done together and then two articulating fragments from the Woodhill Bay Fish Bed at Portishead which are full of upper Devonian placoderm and sarcopterygian fragments. Florists foam is used to hold the pieces in place during scanning as it is easy to press the rocks into and low enough density as to not interfere with the scan. The scan for the Aust block took a little over an hour, and after reconstruction the vertebra is differentiable. The scan isn’t brilliant due to the abundance of pyrite in the stone which scatters the X-rays but it should hopefully be good enough to segment out the bone by hand and make a 3D model, so mission accomplished! The scans for the Portishead material were much shorter exploratory scans (>30 minutes) but turned out better due to the lower density sandstone matrix and lack of pyrite. Both pieces are full of fragments of scale and bits of bone but the larger of the two has a couple particularly interesting features. A large ?spine which I haven’t yet identified: A fragment of jaw with three teeth, likely belonging to the Sarcopterygian Holoptychius: Using a free program called Drishti I’ve been able to quickly reconstruct the Portishead scans in 3D and while the differentiation between bone and matrix isn’t fantastic it is good enough to get an idea of the spatial arrangement of the fragments. I intend to spend some time learning to segment out the fragments individually in Dragonfly (another free program for working with slice data) but am currently struggling with a few bugs so that will have to come later. The two fragments as rendered volumes in rough alignment: A rough rendering of the locations of the bone/scale fragments in both blocks. I believe the majority of the scales are Holoptychius as it is the most abundant taxa in this deposit: Close up on the area with the fragment of jaw, the three teeth are clearly visible as well as the stumps of two others: Thanks for looking, let me know if you have any questions.

Found this relatively big fish vert at the Zandmotor beach near The Hague, the Netherlands. Usual finds are from the Pleistocene, but fish fossils may be older. Would anyone know what species this vert is from?

I found this small vertebra the other day on a river gravel bank. It's different from others I've found... the spinal canal has a small opening compared to the body... but I really was wondering about the lines that go outward from the body on the transverse process. I haven't seen that on any of my other vertebrae finds. I wondered if it's unique to a specific mammal? This bone is solid and completely mineralized. It measures 2.25 inches across the front x 2.25 inches front to back with what's left. 1.5 inches top to bottom.

I purchased this vertebra, at a Gem & Mineral Show. The dealer said he found it himself, but provided no paperwork with it. He either said he found it in Sulphur Springs, TX; or at the Sulphur River, in Texas. I can't remember which, for sure? He had this Vertebra; and a few others from the same site, which all had the same coloration. He had them priced separately, so i chose one that pleased my eye. The largest he had, were about twice as large as this one.

Every year at the Denver fossil show it seems like I pick up some unidentified Kem Kem material. This is because for one it’s cheap, but also because it’s kinda fun to investigate this material. Here are eight pieces I picked up as a bulk set. I have some idea about identification on each of these but would love to hear other’s input. In the following pictures I have the top row being archosaur fossils and the bottom row being fish fossils. My guesses: 1. Caudal(?) vertebra centrum. Croc or theropod, but probably croc. 2. Croc dorsal vertebra 3. Croc centrum 4. Theropod pedal phalanx. Specifically, the distal-most phalanx of toe 1 (the “dew claw”). Narrowest ID I think I could guess we would be Ceratosauria indet., should probably be labeled as Theropoda indet. 5. Two fused fish vertebrae. Are these identifiable any more than this? 6. Gar or gar-like vertebra 7. Chondrichthyan fish vertebra. Maybe Onchoptistis numida? Can that determination even be made? 8. A gigantic ganoid scale. Any guesses just based on size? I’m unfamiliar with all the monster fish in this rock unit. Thanks :)

Found a tooth at Ramanessin that I can't ID, and a partial vert. Guessing the tooth is mammal of some sort but can't seem to find a match online or from locals more familiar with the rarer teeth from Ramanessin. Definitely not modern. Any guesses?

I purchased these in person. The tooth was represented as being a Bison Tooth, found in the Kansas River. The vertebra was represented as being a Whale Vertebra, and i forgot to ask for the location? I thought that at the very least, it was some type of Cetacean Vertebra?

Hello dear fellow forum members. I acquired an interesting fossil supposed to be an Intercentrum attributed to Dimetrodon. Sellers Info:Lower Permian, Wellington Fm. , Waurika, Oklahoma A forum member informed me that at least in adult Pelycosaurs there should not be a separate Intercentrum. So I am open to your Suggestions- Is it someone elses Intercentrum, is it something completely different? I hope that the structure of the fossil will lead to some ID. Fotos from the seller, because I cannot take better ones at the moment. Sorry for the absence of an exact scale, but you get a general impression of the size. Best Regards, J

So, lets figure out vertebrae from the Kem Kem beds. As many of you know the Kem Kem beds has a pretty enigmatic palaeo fauna. There is some literature about it, but not a whole lot. Some of it is behind a paywall and much information is pretty scattered. So I got this idea that maybe we could combine our knowledge and information to collectively get a better picture of which bone belongs to which animal, in this case, vertebrae. I know some of you have some fantastic specimens in your collections, if we combine these in this thread we might be able to see some patterns. We probably won't be able to put a genus or species name on each type, but perhaps assigning certain vertebrae to a morphotype might be possible. With that I encourage everyone that has any vertebrae from the Kem Kem beds to share photos of their specimens and post them here so we can use this thread as a sort of library as well as an ID thread that everyone can use to better ID their Kem Kem vertebrae. So please, share your photos! And it might help to number your specimens for easier reference. I will be updating this first post as new information arises with examples to make ID easier. Theropods Spinosaurids Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Spinosaurus is known for it's tall neural spines, which are pretty characteristic. Unlike Sigilmassasaurus, Spinosaurus does not have the ventral triangular rough plateau on the centra Spinosaurus mid cervical vertebra Spinosaurus dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae Caudal vertebrae Nearly complete tail from the neotype specimen of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis Sigilmassasaurus is a Spinosaurid that might be closely related to Baryonyx and Suchomimus. It differs from Spinosaurus in that it has a ventral keel on many vertebrae and a triangular rough plateau on the bottom back end. A is Sigilmassasaurus, B is Baryonyx Sigilmassasaurus cervical vertebrae From anterior to posterior Sigilmassasaurus dorsal vertebrae Indeterminate Spinosaurid vertebrae Not a whole lot has been published yet, some bones can probably not be ID'd on genus level. Spinosaurid caudal vertebrae Anterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection Mid-posterior caudal: From Paleoworld-101's collection Mid-posterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection This caudal vertebra is less tall and more pinched in the middle of the centrum than the one from Paleoworld-101's collection. Likely due to a slightly more posterior position. Mid-posterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection Carcharodontosaurids Due to an old paper Sigilmassasaurus vertebrae are sometimes misidentified as Carcharodontosaurid. These vertebrae should be identified on the basis of the original description by Stromer. Two species of Carcharodontosaurids are known from the Kem Kem beds at this time. Carcharodontosaurus saharicus and Sauroniops pachytholus. Carcharodontosaurid cervical vertebrae Deltadromeus agilis Anterior (left) and mid (right) caudals better examples needed Abelisauroids Indeterminate Abelisauroid distal caudal From LordTrilobite's collection Abelisaurid dorsal vertebrae From Troodon's collection Sauropods Rebbachisaurus garasbae Not a whole lot is known about this titanosaur, as only a few bones have been found. Notice that the vertebrae are very extensively pneumaticised. Rebbachisaurus dorsal vertebrae Sauropod mid caudal vertebra. Possibly Rebbachisaurid. Unnamed Titanosaurian mid caudal vertebra Crocodilomorphs more examples needed Kemkemia This crocodile is only known by a single posterior caudal vertebra. Kemkemia caudal vertebra Turtles examples needed Pterosaurs Azhdarchids Azhdarchid (probably Alanqa) posterior fragment cervical vertebra Azhdarchid Mid cervical vertebra Sources Spinosaurids https://peerj.com/articles/1323/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_1&utm_medium=TrendMD http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144695 Sauropods Jeffrey A. Wilson & Ronan Allain (2015) Osteology of Rebbachisaurus garasbae Lavocat, 1954, a diplodocoid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the early Late Cretaceous–aged Kem Kem beds of southeastern Morocco, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 35:4, e1000701, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.1000701 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304214496_Evidence_of_a_derived_titanosaurian_Dinosauria_Sauropoda_in_the_Kem_Kem_beds_of_Morocco_with_comments_on_sauropod_paleoecology_in_the_Cretaceous_of_Africa Kemkemia sisn.pagepress.org/index.php/nhs/article/viewFile/nhs.2012.119/32 Pterosaurs https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefossilforum.com%2Fapplications%2Fcore%2Finterface%2Ffile%2Fattachment.php%3Fid%3D432009&fname=journal.pone.0010875.PDF&pdf=true https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/5967

Hi Everybody, Last week, I decided to go to the cliffs for my birthday, and I resolved to get up earlier in the morning to get something I had not found before. My equipment was the standard loadout, sifter, shovel, waders, sunshirt and hat. Along with a one strap bag that I would wear for the 1st and last time. (The strap would slide in front of my chest and neck everytime I leaned over and ducked down. it also broke halfway through my hike) When I arrived I didn't find much to write home about save for a whole shark vert. But when I waded out into the decently clear water I managed to find a vert and a couple ribs. After a couple hours and a ton of smalls, the tide came up. I noticed how high it got and realized it would be a slog to wade back, so I elected to wait an hour before the long haul back. I noticed a bunch of wildlife while I was out, I saw frogs, a weaver spider, herons and a Bald eagle with some osprey. On my way back, I felt discouraged by how choppy the water was and the lack of stuff I was finding ( Pro tip: the choppy water will help you find more stuff after it passes). That and the strap falling off of my bag was annoying. But midway through my Slog, I saw it: out of the corner of my eye I saw something bluish Grey and bigger than a shell. "There's no way" I said as I leaned over and saw the fragment of a tooth bigger than any other I found so far. I was tired, exhausted, and shaking. But here it was, my White whale, the tooth I was looking for after 3 years in the palm of my hand. It just turned dark as I arrived to my car. I think I pushed past being tired. My gear was soaked, I was soaked, but I did it. I Finally got my Meg. Breakdown of the finds below: 297 specimens in total. Starting with teeth, I think this is Hammerhead. Next up is the Meg. Measures 1.74 on the diagonal. Which I estimate would be a 2 inch tooth if whole. I'm excited bc this tooth is unmistakably a megatooth, there's nothing else it could be! Rib bones, this one looks interesting to me bc there looks to be a possible blood vessel groove, and a dissension on the middle right. Could that be a muscle attachment scar? Longer rib Whale vert

Currently working on cataloging my fossil collection as best as I can, and am uncertain on this one. I don’t doubt the authenticity of the fossil itself or stated region based on other examples, but the “Spinosaurus sp.” given by the plate it came with feels awful presumptuous, so I’ve currently settled on a sweeping “Spinosauridae” classification. Does anything about this point to something more specific, or something more vague? Can provide more/better images if needed.

Found this interesting vertebra in the bone valley deposits of Bowling Green Florida and was hoping someone might have an idea from what it may have come from. The deposits are largely Miocene in age . The rough dimensions would be 1 3/4 inch in overall length by 1 1/4 inch high. Many thanks for looking

Hi, Can you identify the vertebra? I suppose fish? Found in jurrasic layer, a few mm length... Thanks And the other side :

Hi, Found that, looks like a vertebra, But not sure texture is a bone... Any help?

Hi all. I don't really know anything about fossils. I have always been fascinated by them, but have no real knowledge. I found this in a lake in Central Saskatchewan. Someone on Reddit suggested it's a vertebra. How do I go about identifying which animal it may have come from? It's 5x7 cm