Pagurus Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 About two weeks ago, before today's storm, my wife and I spent some time sifting gravel at Big Brook in NJ. It's always been an enjoyable Cretaceous hunt. I was happy I had my camera with me when we were joined by a fine-looking animal: Shark teeth and other fossils were much harder to come by than they were last year, at least on the days we were there. We did find a few interesting items though, and even if we found nothing it would have been a good day. We found some broken belemnite guards (one with a piece of the phragmocone, I think), a few shark teeth, one very nice little brachiopod which I haven't identified yet, one nice little pycnodont tooth (Anomaeodus phasolus, I think), and a tooth I hope someone can identify for me. Reptile? Here are the photos: And this one tooth. Could it be crocodile? Mososaur? Any help is appreciated. Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njfossilhunter Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 (edited) The little black cone shaped item you found looks like a Iceage tine or another words a tip of a antler. I found a large one 13 years ago in the brooks and it was ID as such...Off hand I can't remember the name of the species,,, but I will look thru my paper work....It was donated to the NJ museum, Edited October 30, 2012 by njfossilhunter TonyThe Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find. I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 NIce finds and an added bonus of seeing the beauties of Mother Nature. : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 The little black cone shaped item you found looks like a Iceage tine or another words a tip of a antler. I found a large one 13 years ago in the brooks and it was ID as such...Off hand I can't remember the name of the species,,, but I will look thru my paper work....It was donated to the NJ museum, I hadn't thought of antler, even after sharing the stream with that buck. It does look like an antler tip, and that does make sense to me. It doesn't look like tooth enamal and there isn't a root, though of course that could be broken. Thanks so much for your reply. Mike Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Don't think it's an antler tip. Most of the pics make it look like a generic Big Brook concretion but one makes it look like a piece of bone. Probably no way to tell what it's from, however. The broken belemnite has a steinkern of the phragmocone and the little brachiopod is Choristothyris plicata. Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Don't think it's an antler tip. Most of the pics make it look like a generic Big Brook concretion but one makes it look like a piece of bone. Probably no way to tell what it's from, however. The broken belemnite has a steinkern of the phragmocone and the little brachiopod is Choristothyris plicata. Nice finds! Thank you, Carl, for the brachiopod ID and for more properly describing the belemnite piece. I really appreciate it. It's a little hard for me to learn from books alone. I'm not sure what to make of the little black cone-shaped thing. The striations make me think it's not just a concretion but as you noted I'll probably never know for sure. I've got lots of stuff like that. Thanks again, Mike Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Nice finds, Mike. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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