Squama of mammal? Northern Lithuania help with ID

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Dear Guys, 

 

Few months ago I found this bone with flat area widespread in the sides and spiny articular part. If it would be from fish it would have porous or rough surface but the bone is smooth and only 

radial sculpture is little visible. By the shape of bone I am almost sure it is squama (bone of temporal region) and I think its owner was mammal with quite big brains- maybe primate??  

If it is primate it is first fossil of this group older than Quarternary in all Baltic region, if it is another mammal (rodent, carnivore, primitive family) it is also the first mammal of this age in Lithuania. 

I very need the pre Quarternary mammal specialist who could compare squama bones of different small species and suggest the best ID!  

The fossil is found in Dauksiai village, Joniskis district, Northern Lithuania; it is ~1 cm length between the sides of flat part. 

Any ideas or suggestions will be very appreciated! 

 

Best Regards

Domas

[fifbrindacier]

Hi, maybe could you show it to a paleontologist ?

Here is a picture of squama bone i found on the net to compare with :

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

@ fifbrindacer yes I want to show it but I do not know the contacts.  

I don't know any people who work with Early Cenozoic mammals...

 

Best Regards

Domas

[fifbrindacier]

And here, from Wikipédia :

[fifbrindacier]

12 minutes ago, D.N.FossilmanLithuania said:

@ fifbrindacer yes I want to show it but I do not know the contacts.  

I don't know any people who work with Early Cenozoic mammals...

 

Best Regards

Domas

Try the great european muséums, send them photos.

You might also try to ask someone from Yves Coppen's team in the  : Centre de Recherches Anthropologiques - Musée de l'Homme  (http://museedelhomme.fr) or the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (http://cnrs.fr).

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Thank you very much, I will try these links!

 

Regards

Domas

[Harry Pristis]

 

After looking closely at the image, I am fairly confident that this is a fish quadrate bone with its preopercular process broken away.  That broken process would be on the right margin of the bone -- a spike projecting toward the right margin of your image.  The bone condyles were the best clue.

 

 

[fifbrindacier]

Wow, that's a wonderful find, i've never found more of a fish than some random scales. Nice !

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Dear fifbrindacer, 

I recently contacted one permian tetrapod specialist and he said this bone can belong to reptile or reptiliomorph amphibian, it looks like a part of pelvic girdle.

I checked pelvic girdle bones and by me the procoracoid of Dimetrodon looks very similar.

 

Best Regards

Domas

[ynot]

On 12/27/2018 at 9:32 AM, D.N.FossilmanLithuania said:

it is ~1 cm length

 

8 hours ago, D.N.FossilmanLithuania said:

the procoracoid of Dimetrodon looks very similar.

I doubt Dimetrodon where that small.

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

8 minutes ago, ynot said:

 

I doubt Dimetrodon where that small.

Dimetrodon was not small but procoracoid is just a small part of pelvic girdle- it is lower bony plate near coracoid and scapula and it is even smaller than other bones in that block.

 

Regards

Domas