Florida Fossil IDs

[minnbuckeye]

A 10 day vacation to Florida allowed me to collect from 4 different locations. Hopefully @MikeR can help out with the bivalves and gastropods! First up is Cookie Cutter Creek.

 

1. Is this a bone? If so, type of bone and any thoughts to the small creature it came from? It is 4 mm long, so TINY.

 

 Next are Peace River unknowns  is a type of shark tooth. The pointy part reminds me of lemon shark, but there are serrations along the root.

 

2. IDed as possibly Carcharhinus falcimormis; silky shark.

 

3. Probably no way to identify, but am open to suggestions.

 

The next two fossils came from Yankeetown.

 

4. This small gastropod underwent some sort of crystallization/silicification. It's beauty does not show up well in the photo. It seems I read once that this occurs locally to the shells.

 

5. is a small Yankeetown echinoid. Not much for external markings. Maybe water worn?

 

The rest of the fossils likely came from the Tamiami Formation in Sarasota County, though a little further south than I am used to collecting in. Inprevious years, I have collected the more dramatic gastropods and bivalves of the formation. This year, I focused on lesser species and new finds for my collection. Many have tentative IDs given based on my limited research. Here goes!

 

6. I assume this is an Ostrea but could not find an example with such linear lines.

 

7. A total guess on species. In fact, I am not sure if it is coral or a bryozoan.

 

8.

 

9. Some sort of razor clam.

 

10.

 

11. This specimen is much larger and wider than Crepidula fornicata.

 

12. A beat up specimen, but because of the vibrant color, it is worthy to me to ID.

 

13

 

 

14. I thought I verified identification last year, but failed to find it. So a second attempt.

 

 

15.

 

16. The scallop ears are flat on one side and curved on the other.

 

17.

 

18. This is the only "olive shell" found. I included it to make sure I was likely in the Tamiami Formation. There was a difference in species found this year, giving me some concern of the formation.

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19

 

20.

 

21.

 

 

[Coco]

Your snail in n° 4 looks current, but I agree with you that it is very beautiful.

 

Your little sea urchin reminds me of an Echinocyamus, but I’m not sure. If you have a wildlife list of the place, you can check if this genre is mentioned.

 

Coco

Edited March 27 by Coco

[minnbuckeye]

@Coco, thanks for the suggestion. It gives me a start in the process of identification! 

@Sacha, could you provide your assistance at IDing #5?  

[sixgill pete]

The tooth, possibly Carcharhinus falcimormis; silky shark. But definitely a Carcharhinus species.

[minnbuckeye]

@sixgill pete, I have collected from the Peace River many times and never found a tooth like this. Then to find 3 on the same trip! I am not one who is versed in classification of sharks. A lemon shark is in the the family Carcharhinidae. But what you are suggesting is Carcharhinus as a genus? So this is definitely NOT lemon? The teeth have now been labeled as Carcharhinus falcimormis. Thanks for the help .

[garyc]

The first does look like a phalanx. You might get an id with clearer pictures of each end and sides

[Sacha]

@minnbuckeye  Mike, I can't see the peristome or the periproct or any other feature so I can't offer a suggestion. I have lots of small examples of the common sea biscuits and they look similar. Hit the surface with a fine wire brush and see if anything shows up. Also a photo from the side might help since some are fully inflated, some have flat bottoms and some are indented. 

[jpc]

31 minutes ago, garyc said:

The first does look like a phalanx. You might get an id with clearer pictures of each end and sides

I agree... a toe bone.  Looks mammalian, but we'll need better pix.  On the other hand, I don't know how IDable isolated toe bones are.

[minnbuckeye]

@Sacha, do these help?

 

@jpc and @garyc, it looks less likely to be a phalanx now that the sun is shining {been overcast for a week here) but will wait for your expert opinions!!

 

 

[Sacha]

@minnbuckeye  Yes that's better. Unfortunately that doesn't fit any of what we found at Yankeetown. Fully inflated usually means Agassizia clevei, but mouth and anis are not right. Next best guess is a large Fibularia Vaughani but the profile doesn't fit. Sorry can't really help.

[jpc]

mammal tail bone, not toe bone

[garyc]

That is a teeny tiny bone. I don’t even know how you found it. I’ll defer to jpc

[Coco]

Hi,

 

This little sea urchin is too globose for the species I mentioned. Sorry, I can’t help any more.

Coco

[minnbuckeye]

@Sacha, thanks for the help. I inadvertently stated Yankeetown as the location. It was actually Inglas, along the canal. But I think the sites expose the same formation. Couldn't make it out to the islands.

 

@garyc, That is a teeny tiny bone.

            I brought home some screened micro matrix from Cookie Cutter Creek and was going through some of it. I almost pushed it aside thinking it was just some modern plant material common in the screenings. It looks like there is some good specimens in the matrix. I plan on offering it up to forum members in the near future.

 

11 hours ago, jpc said:

mammal tail bone, not toe bone

 

@jpc, Thanks for the ID! Excited it is still a bone.