Turtle bone? Hillsborough River Florida

[Bone Daddy]

This was found by a friend of mine in the Hillsborough River. I think it's a turtle bone, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know what this is?

 

BTW, Hello everyone! I have been AWOL for a while because my schedule has been crazy and I haven't had any time to hunt in quite a while. I am hoping to get back in the saddle soon.

 

Edited January 11 by Bone Daddy

[Notidanodon]

I would agree turtle/tortoise

[Shellseeker]

Softshell Turtle Trionyx Look up photos on Google... @digit@Plantguy

[digit]

Softshells have very different looking nuchals--very wide with a distinctive texture. The OP's nuchal for ID is much more like the general pond/slider turtle nuchal.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[val horn]

Nice find. Not an expert but I believe it is  part of plastron on a marine turtle.

Edited January 11 by val horn
Typos

[Plantguy]

20 hours ago, val horn said:

Nice find. Not an expert but I believe it is  part of plastron on a marine turtle.

Neither am i but I agree with it being from marine plastron. I'm guessing its not a fossil. 

The plastron elements from the fresh water soft shell turtles that we find around here both fossil and extant do have similar shapes in the hyoplastron and hypoplastron.

 

Bonedaddy, Good luck with resaddling! 

Regards, Chris 

[digit]

On 1/10/2025 at 10:16 PM, digit said:

The OP's nuchal for ID is much more like the general pond/slider turtle nuchal.

Must have gotten this turtle ID post mixed up with another current one.

 

On 1/10/2025 at 10:21 PM, val horn said:

Not an expert but I believe it is  part of plastron on a marine turtle.

 

20 hours ago, Plantguy said:

I agree with it being from marine plastron. I'm guessing its not a fossil. 

 

Agreed. That this does appear to be part of a hypoplastron or hyoplastron bone from a sea turtle.

 

Note: Because of problems with poaching, all of the sea turtle species in Florida are protected. It is also illegal to keep parts of (non-fossilized) sea turtles like modern bones.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken