Dugong Shortage? Read This Topic For Filling Your Needs :)

[Nandomas]

Hi everyone, at this link Diana Fattori's article about Eocene dugongs in the Provence paradise:

http://www.paleonatu...-site-in-france

All the best :geek: :)

Nando

Edited November 5, 2011 by Nandomas

[Nandomas]

The rest of the photos

[Scylla]

Amazing, those are some doggone duogongs!

[Cris]

Wonderful pics, Nandomas! Before these pics, I don't think I had ever seen parts of an associated dugong skeleton. Thanks for sharing them.

[wRick]

Wonderful pics, Nandomas! Before these pics, I don't think I had ever seen parts of an associated dugong skeleton. Thanks for sharing them.

There's a pretty nice one down in the Clewiston Museum if you ever make it down there. Mark Renz found it, it's in about a 12 foot long case.

[Nandomas]

Thanks, guys, Diana and I really appreciate your comments!

Rick, the skull in the first post (red frame) is the one Mark Renz found

The full Mark Renz sirenian skeleton was featured in this article I wrote (sorry, it was in Italian):

http://www.paleonatu...site-in-florida

Edited November 5, 2011 by Nandomas

[Angus Stydens]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I thought I would add this story about collecting dugongs. About three years ago, I was collecting in the Giant Cement quarry in Harleyville, S.C. It was in July or August, and hot as the blazes in the quarry bottom. I was having a super day collecting shark teeth since there had been plenty of rain for several days prior. Towards the end of the day, I decided to walk out on one of the flats where limestone had been scraped and loaded into trucks. When I walked out to the center of a flat, I looked down and saw what I recognized as the skull cap of a dugong. Now, dugongs are very rare in the quarry, so I was stunned to see this fossil laying exposed. Upon closer examination, I realized there was a bone scatter around the skull cap, extending out about three feet. The best part was that the skull cap was not just lying loose, it was the top of a skull that was descending down into the limestone. There was minimal damage to the back of the skull, and the rest promised to be in good condition. The bone scatter showed that there were ribs, vertebrae and limb elements present. I got on my cell phone and called my friend Jim Knight (at that time, Chief Curator of Nat. History at the S.C. State Museum) to tell him the good news. We came back the next day and spent most of the day under an improvised sun shelter digging the fossils out. What a brain baker day that was! To make a long story short, Dr. Darryl Domning is studying the specimen at the Smithsonian. The skull turned out to be absolutely fantastic, and the entire left limb and flipper was complete, right down to the perfectly articulated digits of the flipper. We collected several other parts, and I suspect that 80% of the skeleton was there. At some point in the future, the Univ. of Michigan will be joining Dr. Domning in studying and describing the dugong.

[Cris]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I thought I would add this story about collecting dugongs. About three years ago, I was collecting in the Giant Cement quarry in Harleyville, S.C. It was in July or August, and hot as the blazes in the quarry bottom. I was having a super day collecting shark teeth since there had been plenty of rain for several days prior. Towards the end of the day, I decided to walk out on one of the flats where limestone had been scraped and loaded into trucks. When I walked out to the center of a flat, I looked down and saw what I recognized as the skull cap of a dugong. Now, dugongs are very rare in the quarry, so I was stunned to see this fossil laying exposed. Upon closer examination, I realized there was a bone scatter around the skull cap, extending out about three feet. The best part was that the skull cap was not just lying loose, it was the top of a skull that was descending down into the limestone. There was minimal damage to the back of the skull, and the rest promised to be in good condition. The bone scatter showed that there were ribs, vertebrae and limb elements present. I got on my cell phone and called my friend Jim Knight (at that time, Chief Curator of Nat. History at the S.C. State Museum) to tell him the good news. We came back the next day and spent most of the day under an improvised sun shelter digging the fossils out. What a brain baker day that was! To make a long story short, Dr. Darryl Domning is studying the specimen at the Smithsonian. The skull turned out to be absolutely fantastic, and the entire left limb and flipper was complete, right down to the perfectly articulated digits of the flipper. We collected several other parts, and I suspect that 80% of the skeleton was there. At some point in the future, the Univ. of Michigan will be joining Dr. Domning in studying and describing the dugong.

.

Wonderful story! I know whenever I see you've posted somewhere, it's going to be a good post worth reading. I bet that was one of those moments your heart stops when you realized the skull cap was still attached to something!

[Nandomas]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I thought I would add this story about collecting dugongs. About three years ago, I was collecting in the Giant Cement quarry in Harleyville, S.C. It was in July or August, and hot as the blazes in the quarry bottom. I was having a super day collecting shark teeth since there had been plenty of rain for several days prior. Towards the end of the day, I decided to walk out on one of the flats where limestone had been scraped and loaded into trucks. When I walked out to the center of a flat, I looked down and saw what I recognized as the skull cap of a dugong. Now, dugongs are very rare in the quarry, so I was stunned to see this fossil laying exposed. Upon closer examination, I realized there was a bone scatter around the skull cap, extending out about three feet. The best part was that the skull cap was not just lying loose, it was the top of a skull that was descending down into the limestone. There was minimal damage to the back of the skull, and the rest promised to be in good condition. The bone scatter showed that there were ribs, vertebrae and limb elements present. I got on my cell phone and called my friend Jim Knight (at that time, Chief Curator of Nat. History at the S.C. State Museum) to tell him the good news. We came back the next day and spent most of the day under an improvised sun shelter digging the fossils out. What a brain baker day that was! To make a long story short, Dr. Darryl Domning is studying the specimen at the Smithsonian. The skull turned out to be absolutely fantastic, and the entire left limb and flipper was complete, right down to the perfectly articulated digits of the flipper. We collected several other parts, and I suspect that 80% of the skeleton was there. At some point in the future, the Univ. of Michigan will be joining Dr. Domning in studying and describing the dugong.

What a story... congratulations for your dugong find. Are you speaking about Eocene or Oligocene sediments? Looking forward to see your dugong displayed at Smithsonian

[Angus Stydens]

The fossil layer at the Giant Cement quarry is the Pregnall member of the Tupalo Bay formation, and if I recall correctly is early/late Eocene. As those who have collected there may already know, it is very rich in shark teeth, and once in awhile some primitive whales are found. Fish fossils are fairly common, but none articulated, leather back turtle shell pieces, too,,, but again, never articulated. Lots and lots of shells and some invertebrates, like the common periarchus lyelli sand dollars. I have been finding a lot of these lately, sometimes 25 or more in a day.

[wRick]

Thanks, guys, Diana and I really appreciate your comments!

Rick, the skull in the first post (red frame) is the one Mark Renz found

The full Mark Renz sirenian skeleton was featured in this article I wrote (sorry, it was in Italian):

http://www.paleonatu...site-in-florida

Cool! I saw it on display in Clewiston in October. They have a nice collection thanks to Mark!

I managed to come up with a mammoth molar from Lake Okeechobee while I was there, and coincidentally enough, I think I found a dugong vertebra in Georgia on my way home. I'll have to post it and see if anyone can confirm it as dugong for me.

[bear-dog]

Great article Nando,thank you for sharing.

[Nandomas]

The fossil layer at the Giant Cement quarry is the Pregnall member of the Tupalo Bay formation, and if I recall correctly is early/late Eocene. As those who have collected there may already know, it is very rich in shark teeth, and once in awhile some primitive whales are found. Fish fossils are fairly common, but none articulated, leather back turtle shell pieces, too,,, but again, never articulated. Lots and lots of shells and some invertebrates, like the common periarchus lyelli sand dollars. I have been finding a lot of these lately, sometimes 25 or more in a day.

Thanks for your reply.

Eocene sounds good. So your sirenian is really rare!

I was many years ago in quarry in SC, maybe the name was Blue cement or something like this. it was Eocene and we found half primitive whale tooth :Drool: .

I never thought you could find a sirenian there