Paleo-shark_hunter Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I haven't been on here in a really really REALLY long time because I forgot my password, but I finally got around to getting it reset and here I am! Anyway, I haven't done a ton of fossil hunting in the last (almost) year, and we finally got a trip to the Peace River planned and it went...Horribly! The river was 3 1/2 feet higher than it usually is, so we did Venice Beach and went to the wrong part of the beach so we didn't find anything. So **Finally** we went to a decent location, Rock Springs in Apopka. I found some pretty good stuff, a good sized Tiger Shark tooth, a possible fragment of a megalodon tooth (which is a very first for me), some petrified wood, and a mysterious jawbone. My first guess for this jawbone is a small alligator, but I'm honestly not sure. It's not very big, but here's the different pictures from different angles.Right and Left Sides:From the front (broken side):Rear Veiw: "Re-living History, one piece at a time..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleo-shark_hunter Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 View from Beneath:Size Reference with the Quarter: "Re-living History, one piece at a time..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Welcome back to the forum--don't be a stranger... Your timing was off for doing anything in the Peace River. The gauges I follow show the river being about 7' above the level that I usually look for while hunting.There are those who will dive the Peace while it is in flood stage but I consider this time of year to be the gator's turn and I'll wait till levels drop and the current slows to a manageable rate and get my thrills somewhere else. Kelly Park in Rock Springs gets hit pretty hard by people clearing out most of the shark teeth so congratulations on pulling out a nice tiger and meg frag. Your 'gator mandible' frag looks like it could be recent. Does it feel heavy and seem lithified or does it seem like a recent bone fragment? With the piece being tumbled and water worn like that it might be difficult to give a certain ID but this forum is stocked with experts with much arcane knowledge so they may be able to weigh in and give a diagnosis. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleo-shark_hunter Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 It's definitely fossilized, I dropped it on the floor by mistake (and flipped out! It was fine), and the "thud" was obviously rock. It's also pretty heavy for it's size. When I first found it, I thought it was a piece of petrified wood with holes drilled into it by worms or something before it was fossilized. Then I noticed the outside of it had that jawbone structure, and then I got really excited. "Re-living History, one piece at a time..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Maybe just because a picture is difficult, and it's water-worn, but I'm not seeing jawbone in this. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleo-shark_hunter Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 It's got features of a jawbone, the "v" shaped section where it would have been in place with the skull. I also highlighted the small hole on the outside that I've seen in alligator jawbones Hopefully this helps "Re-living History, one piece at a time..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Sorry, this is not a jaw of a crocodilian or of anything else. It's just a sculptured bit of limestone. 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...
Xiphactinus Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Harry, I'm seeing a lot of characteristics of bone. It's hard to tell from such a small fragment, but it looks like something off a sacrum to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 The problem with the bone theory is that this would have to be a fragment of a larger bone, yet there is no trace of cancellous or trabecular bone exposed (in any of the images, at least). 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...
Auspex Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 This is as close to getting a peek inside as we have, and I do not think it looks like bone (not normal bone at least). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Oh. I missed this image . . . been looking at the subsequent images. I am less confident that this is not bone. THIS image might represent a bone abscess . . . I wouldn't bet on it, though. I don't know what it is. Take the object to the next meeting of the Orlando fossil group so that you can get some opinions that don't depend on images. Let us know what you find out. 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...
Auspex Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I think that, if it is bone, it is pathological. I have seen some painful-looking examples of abscessed bones posted here on the Forum, and this reminds me of them. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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