Three fossils from Gainesville creeks

[Coela Cant]

I originally thought that 1 might be some piece of turtle, but it looks very strange to me up close. It is divided into many tiny cells unlike any bone I’ve seen before. It also seems to have a generally geometric shape, with the top end pointed outwards and the bottom end having two concave divots (terms “top” and “bottom” refer to the orientation in the numbered picture).

 

Im quite sure 2 is either to a great white or megalodon. Normally I would say great white due to the general lack of a bourlette, but it is so small that I’m uncertain.

I do not know if 3 is identifiable, but I was already posting the first two so figured I might as well include it. I have never found a bone with a long indent running along the middle of the outside of the bone. Just thought it was curious.

 

 

 

 

 

[Coela Cant]

Apologies for the photos being all out of order, not sure why that happened.

[Frightmares]

Nice little Meg tooth! Unsure on the others

[digit]

The first piece looks to be a worn chunk of bone with the smooth cortical bone weathered away ant the internal spongy cancellous bone material visible. The thin thickness and mostly symmetrical shape make me lean towards an axial bone like a cervical or caudal vertebra--possibly cetacean or sirenian (manatee or dugong).

 

The shark tooth is small using the dime as a scale and has reasonably coarse serrations. Not seeing any evidence of the necessary bourlette needed to confirm it as a meg. Not really the standard shape for a Great White tooth. Size more consistent with a larger carcharhinid tooth. @Shellseeker has seen millions of shark teeth from Florida waterways. Would be interested in his take.

 

The last item may be geologic--could be a mineral layer, a cast of something biologic, or something like an infilled burrow cast. Not recognizing it as any familiar fossil type from Gainesville.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

[Shellseeker]

On 9/5/2023 at 11:46 AM, digit said:

The shark tooth is small using the dime as a scale and has reasonably coarse serrations. Not seeing any evidence of the necessary bourlette needed to confirm it as a meg. Not really the standard shape for a Great White tooth. Size more consistent with a larger carcharhinid tooth. @Shellseeker has seen millions of shark teeth from Florida waterways. Would be interested in his take.

An interesting tooth, small, broken root ends, with equal sized serrations and very minimal bourlette width.  

I took the above GW thru Google image

search, which compared only with Bull shark teeth. 
So , if I took a half moon crescent breaking off the

root in a similar way to ops tooth; 

I always have this difficulty with Very small Megs that

have equal sized serrations and minimal bourlette.

It is not Bull Shark, but looking at the shape, I am 

forced to lean to Meg over GW.

I wonder if others @Al Dente @sixgill pete @siteseer 

@Northern Sharks have the same difficulty

 

 

 

 

[Shellseeker]

Sorry, I should have added that I find the 3rd “bone” infrequently but frequently enough to think it is fossil. I have thought that it is a section of dolphin mandible close to the skull that lacks teeth. The ridge down the center is distinctive 

[siteseer]

On 9/9/2023 at 1:03 PM, Shellseeker said:

An interesting tooth, small, broken root ends, with equal sized serrations and very minimal bourlette width.  

I took the above GW thru Google image

search, which compared only with Bull shark teeth. 
So , if I took a half moon crescent breaking off the

root in a similar way to ops tooth; 

I always have this difficulty with Very small Megs that

have equal sized serrations and minimal bourlette.

It is not Bull Shark, but looking at the shape, I am 

forced to lean to Meg over GW.

I wonder if others @Al Dente @sixgill pete @siteseer 

@Northern Sharks have the same difficulty

 

 

 

 

 

A meg tooth that size would still be thicker than a carcharhinid or great white the same size.  A photo of a profile view would help for an ID

[Andrewsucks]

Thats a Meg. Smaller Megs are often better quality. Nice find!