Shellseeker Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) One of the bones was found today, the other is my Christmas present from a fossil buddy. -- I have some fantastic friends. Both come from the Peace River. Bone #1 below has characteristics of an astralagus (I also found a deer astralagus today), but I do not believe that it is -- mostly because this bone is unbroken and I have never seen a 1/2 astralagus with a hollow center. Bone #2 is a vert with a rapidly decreasing diameter. I wonder if it is close to the neck or close to the tail. All WAGs appreciated. Also how do I insert a photo between the lines of text? SS Edited December 27, 2012 by Shellseeker The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 #1 looks like a sloth phalanx to me. See THIS image. To add images in between text, click "Add to Post" next to the image at the bottom where you uploaded it. This will put an image "code" in your post editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Cris, Thanks for the link. I think my bone most resembles Proximal Phalanx, versus distal or medial. Is that the proper designation for the 3rd bone from the claw. I absolutely love sloth material. Also appreciate the "add to post" description. SS The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 To insert an image between lines of text, don't neglect to place the cursor where you want the image to appear. The first bone is indeed a sloth phalanx. I don't think the second bone is an astragalus. I am not certain what it is; but, I am reminded of this bone: Anyone remember what this bone is called? If it is the same bone, it is only the second one I've seen. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Interesting: The Sloth Phalanx was a Christmas gift from my regular fossil buddy. I had previously found a 3 inch Sloth Claw which was tentatively identified as Paramylodon Harlani. This Phalanx is clearly not Eremotherium and like a puzzle I tried to "connect" it to my Harlan claw. It seems to fit. Does that make this a medial phalanx and if so it is very different from photos of medial phalanx from photos identified as Megalonyx leptostomus http://www.fossilson...roducts_id=1461. It does seems to be an exact match to this Paramylodon photo of " the bone directly behind the claw." http://www.worthpoin...lodon-151001659I am suggesting this bone is specifically a Paramylodon Harlani Medial Phalanx. Is that identification supported? Harry, My photos of the 2nd bone seem dark, I am added a couple of more for clarity. My initial impression was that this was the terminal vert on a backbone because of the last photo. SS The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Hey SS, The seller of that bone was mistaken, it is not the one directly behind the claw. If you look again at the photo I added in the top post, you'll see that there's a phalanx in between the claw and your bone. Harry, I found one of those bones in a Blancan site and cannot ID it for the life of me. I believe I even took it to the museum last year and they were a bit baffled with it. I'll try to find mine and get photos soon. I'd love to figure it out, it must be something somewhat rare. -Cris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Hey SS, The seller of that bone was mistaken, it is not the one directly behind the claw. If you look again at the photo I added in the top post, you'll see that there's a phalanx in between the claw and your bone. Harry, I found one of those bones in a Blancan site and cannot ID it for the life of me. I believe I even took it to the museum last year and they were a bit baffled with it. I'll try to find mine and get photos soon. I'd love to figure it out, it must be something somewhat rare. -Cris I'd like to see images of your find, Cris. Actually, I think I know what it is. "It is from an alligator. In gators the first neck vertebra, the atlas, does not fuse and remains three separate pieces of bone. This is one of them, called the intercentrum." ---Richard Hulbert --------- It seems that the crocodilians alone, among higher vertebrates, retain a primitive amphibian structure of the atlas. The atlas is the only place in higher vertebrates where an intercentrum occurs. The other two bones are the pleurocentra. In some later Labyrinthodonts (primitive Paleozoic amphibians), there is a trend toward expansion of either the pleurocentrum or the intercentrum, resulting in a more solid centrum. In the line of Labyrinthodonts that evolved into reptiles, pleurocentrum expanded and fused to form a complete ring. Crocodilians, unlike other reptiles, retained the primitive amphibian condition with unfused bones comprising the atlas. In other vertebrae (such as the axis), the intercentrum, the two pleurocentra, and the neural arch fuse to form the characteristic vertebra. (I understand that the proatlas is fused to the neurocranium, and does not constitute an independent bone in a crocodilian. But, its evolutionary path is traceable to early amphibians.) http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Wow, great information! I was almost sure the bone was reptile (the ends of their bones just have a different look than those of mammals) and alligator is one of the more common finds in that site...So that makes sense. I'll try to dig it out along with a bunch of my other "weird" bones from this place and get them posted up soon. Thanks again for the info. And sorry to temporarily hijack your thread, Shellseeker! -Cris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 And sorry to temporarily hijack your thread, Shellseeker! -Cris No problem, Cris. I appreciate all added value to any of my threads. I realized ALMOST immediately after I posted my last entry thta I had a proximal rather than a medial. I was searching the net and found an articulated sloth finger. Thanks for the correction. Harry, is the 2nd bone is an Alligator Atlas? It certainly seems similar. SS The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 The second bone looks like a partial mammal vertebra to me. www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 The second bone looks like a partial mammal vertebra to me. Mammal or otherwise, partial is the word for it. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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