Help in the Idetfication of this Fossil

[McHorse]

Hi all!

On a resent trip to Motunau beach in the South Island of New Zealand I found what looks to be petrified wood. As I am a complete amateur and this is the only fossil I have ever found, I ask all on this forum to please help me identify this "Fossil".

The fossil appears to have a grain running along the side and circular holes when looking at the end grain which become coarser towards the centre. I cannot see any indication of growth rings. The colour is a dark brown on the outside which changes to a lighter brown in the centre. The shape appears to be almost triangular in cross-section. The "fossil" seems to be in a mixture of sandstone and a conglomerate of pebbles. Below are some photos I took, hopefully they're clearer than my use of geological terminology.

Thank you all in advance.

[McHorse]

End grain

[McHorse]

Side

[McHorse]

Angled shape

[McHorse]

If it helps according to a few websites on Motunau fossils, the age of other fossil types are said to be from the "Early Miocene to Pliocene (22-3 million-years-old)"

[Fossildude19]

Looks like a chunk of bone ... - of what? I don't know.

Not sure there's enough there to ID.

Maybe one of the locals will weigh in on this.
Regards,

Edited January 6, 2016 by Fossildude19

[jpc]

Looks more like wood to me. Motunau is known for its crabs, by the way. I am not sure if there is wood there, but it is also known for bones.

Edited January 6, 2016 by jpc

[caldigger]

I'm seeing bone also, lots of vertebrates during that time.

[McHorse]

Thank you all for your replies. Would you please add why and how you have come to your conclusion as hopefully I can gain some tip and knowledge in the identification of fossils

[McHorse]

Here is another close up of the end grain and the circular holes if this helps.

[jpc]

I change my vote. I had been hasty and did not look at the end on views. They show a very bony pattern, esp the first one where it seems to have bigger 'cells' in what would have been the center of the bone.

[Vieira]

Clearly is a bone

[Fossildude19]

I'm really not much of a bone guy, ... but I can say this,... after nearly 6 years on this forum,

having see allot of bone ID'd by others on here, I must have picked up a few visual clues.

The texture of your item looks like what has previously been ID'd as bone by others here on the forum.

The color is dark, brownish/black,... another feature common with fossilized bone.

So, I based my thoughts on color and texture.

A big part of fossil hunting is noticing patterns, and recognizing common features in items that tend to repeat.

But every fossil hunter will also pick up anything new that they don't recognize, just in case it is something they are unfamiliar with.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

[Troodon]

Welcome to the forum.

Bone fragments are very difficult to ID when there is nothing diagnostic to look at. Like Fossildude19 said try to see what the locals are finding it may give you more clues. Local fossil clubs may be your best option.

[abyssunder]

Could be a fossil whale bone.

[McHorse]

Could be a fossil whale bone. Whale bone.JPG

wow! The colour and texture of your picture looks very similar to my fossil. Being that most fossils found in Motunau tend to be ocean dwellers, a whale bone could be a pretty good guess.

Thanks abyssunder and all who have contributed, this is a really interesting forum with great people.

If anyone else has any more ideas on what it mite keep 'em comming, i'm having a ball.

[McHorse]

I Just had a quick google based on abyssunder's tip that the fossil may be a whale bone and what do ya know the colour, shape and pattern look very similar to this picture.

Thanks again abyssunder and all.

[abyssunder]

I think your find could be a whale bone according to the dimension, shape and texture. I forgot to mention that the whale bone of the picture attached by me is from Palliser Bay, the southern end of the North Island. You can see more details in this blog. http://juliansrockandiceblog.blogspot.ro/2012/11/fossil-whale.html

[McHorse]

I think your find could be a whale bone according to the dimension, shape and texture. I forgot to mention that the whale bone of the picture attached by me is from Palliser Bay, the southern end of the North Island. You can see more details in this blog. http://juliansrockandiceblog.blogspot.ro/2012/11/fossil-whale.html

Well my fossil is not quite as impressive as yours is abyssunder. So are whale fossils of this age common in New Zealand or even the world and do you have an idea of what type of whale or age this fossil may be from, given it was found in the Motunau area? All in all i'm pretty happy with my first find, I can't wait to get back and try for some more fossils.

[abyssunder]

I'm not familiar with the Motunau area, but I recommend the New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon. http://data.gns.cri.nz/stratlex/search.jsp
For a more precize determination of the geological age you have to know more details, like region, unit name, formation,etc. With a little speculation, knowing that the whale bones from the Palliser Bay in Julian's blog were found in the Wairarapa region in the Hurupi Formation, with the NZSL results Late Miocene, I suppose could be the same or close to Motunau area.
I don't know how common they are in NZ, probably the big fragments are rare, but if you found one, there's a good chance to find another. Keep looking!