Anomotodon Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Agree, definitely Ichthyosaur. Actually, not sure about Texas, but at least in the Cenomanian of Eastern Europe ichthyosaurs are not that rare compared to plesiosaurs, seems that they very abundant right before the Cenomanian-Turonian anoxic event which resulted in a rapid extinction. The Tooth Fairy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 8 hours ago, siteseer said: It's not a shark because a shark centrum would be concave on both sides sloping at a low angle from the edge to the center (like a shallow hourglass) as you look straight at its round width (anteroposterior view) and there would be some indication of two openings top and bottom where the cartilaginous neural and hemal arches entered and attached. The specimen in question does look more like reptilian bone in that it looks crumbly/grainy like dinosaur bone chunks as they weather. A shark centrum chips and breaks, having a porcelain quality that way, rather than look like that. Thinking about it more, a shark centrum that old might be more mineralized than the Miocene specimens I'm used to seeing so it might weather like bone but there should still be some indication of the openings and the biconcave shape front to back. I agree. Here is a shark centrum from the Duck Creek Formation for comparison. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 6 hours ago, BobWill said: I agree. Here is a shark centrum from the Duck Creek Formation for comparison. Hi BobWill, Wow, great specimen. That one also illustrates something I forgot to add - the concentric rings on both concave sides that show the pattern of calcification. Even if those surfaces are moderately damaged, you would see some sign that they were there in a shark centrum. I remember the first time I went to the MAPS EXPO in 1994. I spotted a Sulphur River shark vertebra for sale and bought it. I thought it was a great find because it was a well-preserved late Cretaceous shark vertebra. I guess that kind of thing was old hat to others but I think it's still the oldest shark vertebra in my collection. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyc Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 My first thought was plesiosaur, but I’ve never seen an icthyosaur vert before. So can some please educate me how to tell the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyc Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 On 1/25/2019 at 5:56 PM, garyc said: My first thought was plesiosaur, but I’ve never seen an icthyosaur vert before. So can some please educate me how to tell the difference? @Uncle Siphuncle @JarrodB Any other NSR experts please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarrodB Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Reptile for sure. Nice find! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRhunter Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 On 1/24/2019 at 10:01 PM, BobWill said: Wasn't that an Icthyosaur tooth you found in the Duck Creek as well? Shark verts as big as 5" were found in the same creek but I agree that this looks more like bone. Yup that also was an ichtyosaur tooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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