Vertabrae From Gay Head Cliffs

[pilot789]

This fossil vertabrae was found at the base of the Gay Head cliffs of Aquinnah, Massachusetts, a Cretaceous, Miocene and Pleistocene outcropping thought to have been raised by the glacier. The Miocene marine vertabra commonly produced by these cliffs are much darker and more eroded which leads me to wonder whether this vertabra is from the Pleistocene era rather than Miocene. In which case it could be any number of megafauna or marine animals.

Any ideas? My guess is shark, but a camel fossil was found hereabouts.

[RichW9090]

It's a bony fish vertebra. Some of the fish-folks here may be able to id it more specifically.

Rich

[Dave pom Allen]

looks like a possible large tuna or similar vert other here may be more specific

[pilot789]

Thank you for the ID Rich and Dave. Must have been a big fish! Does a Pleistocene age look right or might it be Miocene?

[MarcoSr]

The vertebra does look like Thunnus (tuna). At Lee Creek in NC there is an abundance of tuna-like fossils available from the Pungo River (units 3 & 4) (Miocene) and Yorktown (unit 1) (Pliocene) Formations. So your specimen could be Miocene also.

Marco Sr.

[cowsharks]

Agree with Marco. I have very similar verts from both Lee Creek and Calvert Cliffs and all were ID"d as Tuna verts by folks at the Smithsonian and Calvert Marine Museum.

Daryl.

[steelhead9]

I have found dozens of whale vertebra at the Gay Head Cliffs, but none from fish. Also many seal bones and gastroliths.

Edited November 15, 2013 by steelhead9

[sixgill pete]

I fully agree with Marco and Daryl, Tuna vert. I have several in my collection from the Lee Creek mine.

[Boesse]

Thirded/fourthed - I reported a vertebra from the Pliocene of California as Thunnus with that same morphology.

[pilot789]

I have found dozens of whale vertebra at the Gay Head Cliffs, but none from fish. Also many seal bones and gastroliths.

The fish vertebra in my photo above seems less eroded than the usual Miocene whale and seal bones from the greensand deposits in the Gay Head cliffs, from which I inferred that perhaps it was younger in age. Although my (vague) memory is that I found it near a greensand deposit, since I have never seen a fish bone in the greensand, I thought it might be a younger fossil, perhaps out of the Aquinnah Conglomerate which I think dates back about 100,000 years.

Does anyone have any research papers about the fossils in the Gay Head cliffs? I have searched online and found several from the 1800's and a major piece from 1934. I know Clifford Kaye studied and wrote about the cliffs more recently.

[steelhead9]

The fish vertebra in my photo above seems less eroded than the usual Miocene whale and seal bones from the greensand deposits in the Gay Head cliffs, from which I inferred that perhaps it was younger in age. Although my (vague) memory is that I found it near a greensand deposit, since I have never seen a fish bone in the greensand, I thought it might be a younger fossil, perhaps out of the Aquinnah Conglomerate which I think dates back about 100,000 years.

Does anyone have any research papers about the fossils in the Gay Head cliffs? I have searched online and found several from the 1800's and a major piece from 1934. I know Clifford Kaye studied and wrote about the cliffs more recently.

Once the vertebra are out of the greensand, they erode quickly as they dry, but if taken from the greensand they are often in similar condition to your fish vertebra. The yellow crust on the outside of the bone is typical of Gay Head greensand fossils. I have never found a fossil anywhere at Gay Head that did not come from the greensand, although I have read of pleistocene mammal bones having been found there in the past. Sadly, collecting at the cliffs is a thing of the past since the Wampanoag's took possession of them.