TSCannon Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Hi all - found this in Central Texas. It was a surface find in an area mapped as Ozan formation. Thought it was an old railroad spike at first. Is there enough left of it to give a general ID? Kind of looks like some mosasaur vert pics I’ve seen. Any ideas appreciated. Thanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Looks like one. A lot of bones that come out of the Ozan are covered in pyrite. Yours is especially the case! 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 I agree. The procoelous nature of this specimen (hollow at the front, bulbous at the back) marks this as a mosasaur vertebrae. Those, unfortunately, are undiagnostic as to species most of the time, however, although it is possible to identify this as either a lumbar or a pygal based on the relative length of it. Nice find! 4 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psittacosaur9 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 The Ozan Formation has Tylosaurine Mosasaurs, so it's probably one of those. I have heard about Globidens being found there but I'm not entirely sure how accurate that claim is. Cool find! 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 4 hours ago, Psittacosaur9 said: The Ozan Formation has Tylosaurine Mosasaurs, so it's probably one of those. I have heard about Globidens being found there but I'm not entirely sure how accurate that claim is. Cool find! Tylosaurine mosasaurs are indeed one of the more common mosasaurids from the Ozan Formation. However, multiple other subfamilies and genera occur as well, such as indeed Globidens spp., plioplatecarpinae and mosasaurini (including Clidastes sp.). Globidens alabamaensis, Ozan Formation, North Sulphur River @Titan's Clidastes sp. jaws, Ozan Formation (Lower Taylor Marl), North Sulphur River, North Texas (source) 4 1 1 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psittacosaur9 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 7 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said: Tylosaurine mosasaurs are indeed one of the more common mosasaurids from the Ozan Formation. However, multiple other subfamilies and genera occur as well, such as indeed Globidens spp., plioplatecarpinae and mosasaurini (including Clidastes sp.). Globidens alabamaensis, Ozan Formation, North Sulphur River @Titan's Clidastes sp. jaws, Ozan Formation (Lower Taylor Marl), North Sulphur River, North Texas (source) Wow, thanks for the clarification! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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