Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on Apr 19, 2018 22:33:33 GMT -5
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Post by tims on Apr 20, 2018 0:23:08 GMT -5
Looks like a shark tooth.
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Post by vegasjames on Apr 20, 2018 0:27:09 GMT -5
I agree it looks like a shark tooth. Possibly mako or sand tiger.
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Post by fantastic5 on Apr 20, 2018 9:02:59 GMT -5
Now that's really cool! It certainly does look like a tooth.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 21, 2018 8:44:08 GMT -5
Looks like a tooth.... The first photos you showed had that in it too, I noticed it right off the bat...
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 21, 2018 8:45:01 GMT -5
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on Apr 21, 2018 10:30:55 GMT -5
Fossilman:Could it be a Plesiosaur, or something more modern? Also, does the tooth appear to be there by coincidental sedimentation or intentional, as by a predator/scavenger?
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 22, 2018 21:39:11 GMT -5
It looks like a small whale vertebrae to me too. At Sharktooth Hill by Bakersfield, we used to find very similar fossils where sharkteeth were often fused to whale bone fossils by mineral deposits. That looks very like the tip of a Mako shark tooth me too. I have many similar examples in my collection.....Mel
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Henry
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2013
Posts: 452
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Post by Henry on Apr 22, 2018 22:36:25 GMT -5
So, I guess it's rather difficult to...well...guess the age?
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
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Post by saxplayer on Apr 22, 2018 22:40:00 GMT -5
Probably. Without destroying the specimen to run actual tests on it, it would be hard. Unless maybe we have a paleontologist expert here =)
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 22, 2018 23:35:28 GMT -5
I'm not an expert but that sort of Mako existed with a lot of small whales during the Miocene about 21 million years ago. That's the period of the Sharktooth Hill deposits.....Mel
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Post by aDave on Apr 22, 2018 23:51:52 GMT -5
It looks like a small whale vertebrae to me too. At Sharktooth Hill by Bakersfield, we used to find very similar fossils where sharkteeth were often fused to whale bone fossils by mineral deposits. That looks very much like the tip of a Mako shark tooth me too. I have many similar examples in my collection.....Mel As an aside, and please forgive the hijack, I'd love to get to Sharktooth Hill one day. It's an easy drive, but the one think that scares me is the Valley Fever fungus that's in the soil. Maybe this year would be good to go, as it wasn't too wet this year. Back on topic...great specimen. The fact you have a vertabrae is a neat thing...especially with the tooth. It's a great piece.
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 23, 2018 23:09:42 GMT -5
Dave, I've been to Sharktooth Hill ( before it became a controlled fee dig) and other Bako sharktooth sites many times and the best time to go is when it is wet. You get Valley Fever when you stir up dust while digging and aspirate the spores in the dust. When it's wet, no dust is generated so you do not inhale spores. My digging buddy worked with me a bunch of times without catching it and then did catch it bad in Porterville when a consturction site filled the air with spores one summer. He was misdiagnosed and almost died from it. Bad stuff. We wore dust masks when digging even when it was not real dry.....Mel
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Post by aDave on Apr 23, 2018 23:27:05 GMT -5
Dave, I've been to Sharktooth Hill ( before it became a controlled fee dig) and other Bako sharktooth sites many times and the best time to go is when it is wet. You get Valley Fever when you stir up dust while digging and aspirate the spores in the dust. When it's wet, no dust is generated so you do not inhale spores. My digging buddy worked with me a bunch of times without catching it and then did catch it bad in Porterville when a consturction site filled the air with spores one summer. He was misdiagnosed and almost died from it. Bad stuff. We wore dust masks when digging even when it was not real dry.....Mel Mel, I understand the wet and keeping the dust down. However, I seem to recall researching the area, and it seemed that valley fever spores were more likely to be more prolific in the soil after a wet season (winter) as opposed to a drier year. Maybe I've got it backwards, but after seeing the valley fever threat from digging there, I'm less enthused than I used to be about going there. It's really too bad whatever the case is. Looks like it would be a neat place to dig, but at this point, I don't think I'm willing to take a chance. With my luck, I'd end up with valley fever, no matter what precautions I took.
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Post by rmf on Apr 24, 2018 8:58:41 GMT -5
henry Yes that is a plesiosaur Vert. I found one in the Cretaceous of TN about 10 yr ago. The way to tell is they are almost flat on the front to back faces just like yours and when held like you first image they have two holes in the dorsal (top) surface. When I found mine I thought these were tooth mark but these are natural in the plesiosaur.
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lookatthat
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Post by lookatthat on Apr 27, 2018 17:33:25 GMT -5
Looks legit. I think the tooth just happens to be stuck there.
I went to the Bakersfield dig -- worried about the Valley Fever but none of us had any problems. We didn't find any big megs or giant makos, but did find some pretty makos, lots of bone, and some cool tiny fossils -- angel shark teeth, dogfish shark teeth, basking shark teeth.
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