Found Skull encased in rock!

[Mahnmut]

21 hours ago, BullStrong said:

I'm in the turtle camp, I believe  I see what's left of the spine inside the shell at the dome apex

Good point.

I thought this might be a remnant of the tentorium, the bone structure that divides the cerebrum from the cerebellum like a tent in carnivora like pinnipeds, but turtle spine makes sense also.

Courious to hear where this goes.

Cheers,

J

[Skull-yRose]

Hello all I have an update. I was out at the site this morning to check on Skully McGee (I have named it) as we had strong winds pushing the water towards the beach and the tide was incoming so I knew to expect some rocks to tumble over night praying it wasn't anywhere near Skully. To my surprise the rock slab  was still standing but just barely. It will be any day now that this massive rock will take Skully out. So I planned a little funeral for my newly found friend. I'll be playing Me & Skully McGee by Janis Joplin at the wake. I think it's appropriate. Also, it will be an open casket viewing. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate to your local sea turtle rescue.....

 

All jokes aside, I'm sad that I may lose this incredible find and it's my first find ever. I think she's got a lot of paleo-tenial to be a snarge good fossil representative for our local history.

 

Additional photos added and I'll continue to  keep you updated and informed. 

[Jared C]

if push comes to shove... having it in several pieces but in your possession is better than having it in many pieces scattered around the beach. If you really think that no one is going to help you with your find and that it'll soon be destroyed, I'd say attempt the excavation anyway, even with hand tools if necessary.

[Skull-yRose]

Good morning all! I have an update on Scully McGee....

 

I went to the museum yesterday to see Dr. Hulbert with my skull pieces but he was not available unfortunately. However I did get to speak with his assistant and another gentleman whose name escapes me at the moment and they were both so helpful and I appreciate the time they spent on this greatly.

 

Now I have always had a little black cloud that seemed to follow me around most of my life bringing serious degrees of trouble, some pretty bad but most very comical in an annoying sort of way. And if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all and actually come to think of it I don't think I even have bad luck because things just always tend to end up upside down around me, always getting the short end of the stick. Which brings me to my Scully McGee what a trickster.

 

As it turns out a lot of you were on the right track in stating that this was a turtle shell which it is in fact a turtle shell. And because I'm involved it could only be the back end of a gopher tortoise who clumsily fell into a hole in the Coquina and there he lie until now. So he is not millions of years old and probably not hundreds of thousands of years old but he's probably a couple thousand years old which is still pretty darn neat considering I was the first human to touch his butt... ever {insert Tina Belcher groan here}. That would be just my luck I find a turtle butt.

[Ludwigia]

An apt description of the workings of destiny!

[Brandy Cole]

@Skull-yRose

Well, I've been going through a pretty stressful time this week, but your updates in the journey of Scully McGee have given me a nice distraction, and I appreciate you updating us on the entertaining (if not historically groundbreaking) end of this unfortunate fellow.  Thanks for sharing.

[digit]

Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.

 

Glad you got the mystery solved anyway. Not as old as you might have expected but still an unusual find. Keep your eyes peeled for more oddities and hopefully the next one eye sockets and teeth.

 

You missed me at the museum as I was there on Monday but not yesterday. Heading there again later today. Hopefully, you enjoyed the exhibit and had a good chat with Jason (the lead preparator and turtle/tortoise expert). Richard was out but Jason was probably the best person in Florida to identify your find given what it turned out to be.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[minnbuckeye]

46 minutes ago, Skull-yRose said:

And if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all 

Think more along the lines of glass half full. Empty glass means your life experience would not have included Scully McGee. The turtle brought much enjoyment to those that followed your post as seen by @Brandy Cole"s response. I assume your venture has brought joy to you. The end result may not have been the skull hoped for. But your find was remarkable in my opinion. So I see your glass as 90% full!!!!! Positive affirmations, like the half full glass are a great way to train your mind to think positively. Then maybe the dark cloud will vanish!! Good luck. 

 

Mike

[digit]

On 4/22/2022 at 8:57 AM, digit said:

I would expect to see more evidence of peripheral (edge) bones and the bone is relatively thin in cross section so that is a bit of a strike against (most) turtle shells.

BTW: I was thinking more along the lines of turtle when I wrote this but I've learned (but obviously not well enough to be able to remember it when needed) that tortoise shell can often be crazy thin--much thinner than you'd expect from an exoskeleton. The lack of widely flaring peripheral bones and the thinness of the bone all make perfect sense for tortoise where they weren't matching up for turtle.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken