What is this?

[Emily91]

Hey today I was out side with my dog and he’s a husky so he digs and today he dug this up from a neighbors yard I am trying to identify it but having a hard time does anyone know what kind of bone this is? Thank you for your help!

[digit]

Welcome to the forum!

 

It does seem to show the smooth cortex bone on the outside and spongy cancellous bone within making it quite probably bone material. The rounded shape would indicate the articulating end of a limb joint. The material does not look to be mineralized and it could very well be a modern fragment of a bone. Of course, it is quite difficult to make this diagnosis from photos alone. I would guess it is a modern bone (possibly buried by another animal or dog in the neighborhood). If you wanted to try to rule out modern bone to see if it is fossilized you could try the flame test.

 

Modern (non-mineralized) bone is a mesh of protein (collagen) fibers with calcium phosphate crystals embedded. As a bone becomes a fossil, the protein breaks down leaving holes and gaps where new minerals may precipitate to replace the protein. This is why fossilized bones are heavier than modern bones of the same size. If you take a lighter and briefly hold it under the bone (a few seconds should do) the flame will cause the protein fibers to burn giving off a yucky "burning hair" smell. If it is a mineralized bone, the protein will be long gone and even longer passes through the flame should not emit any stink.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken