Camel partial tibia? Late Pleistocene Northern Lithuania

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

Dear Guys,

 

Few months ago I found this partial tibia that is 20 cm length and has less protuberant central ridge than auroch or horse. 

The other interesting feature is oblong shallow pit in the side of central ridge and also smooth surface of plain bone part when horses have horizontal 

wrinkles of bone and bison or auroch has longitudinal waves in the same surface part. 

The frontal protuberant ridge, its low height and visible oblong pit in the side makes me think it should belong to camel but the only camel genus of European Pleistocene is Paracamelus that is found in Romania.

If anyone knows Pleistocene mammals well and has comparative material, please help to confirm this bone or identify as another taxon. 

Any help will be very appreciated!

 

Best Regards

Domas

 

[fifbrindacier]

Hi, could you take a photo showing it entirely ?

[Fossildude19]

@Harry Pristis

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

@fifbrindacier here are four photos of complete bone showing different sides:

 

[fifbrindacier]

Thank you.

[caldigger]

Do you think all those gouges on it are predatory marks?

[Harry Pristis]

10 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Do you think all those gouges on it are predatory marks?

 

No!  Those scratches penetrate the age patina on the naked bone.  There is no indication that rodents recently attacked the bone for its minerals.

[caldigger]

1 hour ago, Harry Pristis said:

 

No!  Those scratches penetrate the age patina on the naked bone.  There is no indication that rodents recently attacked the bone for its minerals.

I was thinking more in terms of something chewing on it when it was a fresh carcass.

[Harry Pristis]

1 hour ago, caldigger said:

I was thinking more in terms of something chewing on it when it was a fresh carcass.

 

You missed the point, Cal . . . If there were scavenging marks, the age patina would cover those as well.

[caldigger]

You don't think the grooves are just filled in with matrix dust?

 

Not trying to argue the point, just curious what would create those knaw "looking" marks?

[KimTexan]

Is the dark spot in the last pic where a break is or is that a natural recess in the bone? I think it’s a natural recess. If so it would be the posterior side of the distal end of a humerus. The back side, bottom end.

 

 

Is the material on the right end in this pic matrix?

 

I think it is. It doesn’t look like bone.

 

These are bison leg bones from my recent find of a nearly whole Pleistocene bison.

 

I tried to find bones that have similar structure on the end with the deep grove. They may not be the same type of animal, but at least they should have reasonably similar structure.

First bone at far back is the posterior (caudal) to medial view of the proximal end of a left tibia.

 

Second bone is a right humerus. The view is of posterior (caudal) side with the distal end on the right.

 

Third bone is posterior proximal end view of a left femur.

 

If that grove is natural it, it looks more like a humerus bone.

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

@KimTexan I do not think that my bone is humerus because the cross section in the wider end has sharp triangular shape what is more typical to tibia. 

Talking about the material inside bone, yes it is matrix because in the building site where the bone is found the mud layers are under humus and that mud like layers are formed in the Late Pleistocene. You also did not notice one tiny oblique hole in the last photo- very similar subject can be seen in the upper part of pig tibia. 

I think this bone can belong to ice age pig megafauna (20 cm length is too big measure to recent pigs). 

Talking about marks I do not have an opinion but maybe big part of them are predation and some are butchering or chopping like. 

Here are two pictures of the end cross sections of this bone: 

[D.N.FossilmanLithuania]

These are tibia examples of pig and peccary: 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/R-tibia-of-Tayassuidae-indeterminant-UF-243751-from-upper-Culebra-Formation-Hodges_fig9_228491624

(peccary) 

http://www.boneid.net/product/pig-sus-scrofa-left-tibia-anterior-view/

http://www.boneid.net/product/pig-sus-scrofa-left-tibia-posterior-view/

https://phys.org/news/2017-05-bone-proteomics-reveal-dead.html

(pig). 

 

I think this bone belong to very huge boar ancestor. Please notice the last link- the complete pig tibias without joints are only ~15 cm length when my fragmentary remain is 19- 20 cm.

More opinions?

 

Best Regards

Domas