Vordigern Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 we've been having some heavy rains the past few weeks and I decided to make a trip out to a local cretaceous woodbury formation stream Id been neglecting this summer. Tried out a trick someone told me to try looking at the stream bottom through a large, clear, plastic bowl and I spied this little guy but when I went to pick it up it started falling apart, I was able to recover 8 pieces and reassemble them but from the looks of the edges I missed a couple pieces. Aprox 1 3/4"X1 3/8",concave and inside is nice and smooth with a tiny "dot" texture and about 15 small dimples mostly around the edges (predation?). The outside is in rougher condition and under magnification has a "finger print" texture. There is also what looks like the remains of a 7/8" long ridge of some sort but only about 3/8" of it is really pronounced enough to see in the pics. My only guesses are part of a small skull as I have seen a similar "finger print" texture on another creataceous amphibian skull in one of my books or maybe a very small turtle shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share Posted August 6, 2012 pics of the outside surface Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I think you are on track with the skull idea, because those edge "dimples" look like sutures to me. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 turtle skull was my first thought, but Ive seen similar textures on some turtle scutes so I wasnt positive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Turtle skull bones tend to be disproportionately thick for their size; how would you rate this one in that regard? They also have very simple sutures. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 its funny you should mention that, one of the first things I noticed was how thick it was for its size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 looks turtle-y to me too. nice find Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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