Gobiosoma Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Hi, This was found underwater, under a foot of mud in Southern Louisiana. There is a freshwater body of water called Lake Maurepas (more-uh-paw) that was originally formed by the Mississippi River before it changed course hundreds of years ago. Currently, there are predominately very fine silts and clays in the area and there are rivers that flow into this lake. It looks like a vertebral body with two long vertebral processes, but I could be completely wrong. Has anyone seen anything like this? Thanks for any input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 (edited) That is pretty weird. Could it be man-made? The cross section seems very thin to me. Some kind of fish hook? Frog gigger? A tool? Broken filial? Looks like it might have been something with a handle to pin down an animal. Can you get a shot of the broken end? Also, some of the photos are blurry. Maybe take them from farther away and crop them. Also, brighter natural light might help. Also, how heavy is it? Is it attracted to a magnet? Edited July 1, 2016 by CraigHyatt Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 I think it may be a fish vertebra. Looks fish-y, to me. 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...
JohnJ Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 I don't think it's a vertebra. It looks like part of a turtle. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 (edited) What gets me is how thin it is in cross section. And the "stacked" appearance in cross section. It just looks like a welded tool. Edited July 1, 2016 by CraigHyatt Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 The texture on the flat part looks like softshell turtle. There is a similar bone in this photo. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 The texture on the flat part looks like softshell turtle. There is a similar bone in this photo. softshell.JPG OK. I'm convinced by that. :-D Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 The texture on the flat part looks like softshell turtle. There is a similar bone in this photo. softshell.JPG Thanks, Eric. I couldn't find my reference image. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 (edited) Nice plate,Al. Edited July 1, 2016 by doushantuo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 yup, softshell turtle bit. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Possible coat hanger... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 (edited) taphonomically interesting,becaus it LOOKS fragile,but is still whole. So a foot of mud is all it takes to preserve this? Edited July 1, 2016 by doushantuo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobiosoma Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Wow! Thanks for zeroing in on that. I will research the turtle a little further and try to find the name of that bone. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 al dente is spot on... soft shelled turtle piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 That's a pretty cool find. Welcome to the forum John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobiosoma Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Very cool, and kudos to Eric for nailing this. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Preservation is often an interesting phenomenon. I've collected a thousand bits and pieces of trionyx over the decades from our Cretaceous deposits. However, never collected that particular bone. Its puzzling how one locale or formation will yield certain elements of a skeleton and others different skeletal parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 (edited) I have done a lot of fishing in that lake. And yes, it looks like a turtle bone, likely modern. There is one report however of a mastodon found in Manchac, so it is not completely out of line to say this might be Pleistocene in age. Cool find! Edited July 2, 2016 by TNCollector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchiornis Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Now that we know that the vertebrae belongs to a softshell turtle, we can narrow it down to the two softshell species from Louisiana: Apalone mutica (smooth softshell turtle) or Apalone spinifera (spiny softshell turtle). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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