fossilman7 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 hey i need some one to id this possible fossil. i found this one day in big brook new jersey. i looked at many sites and i think it may be a dryptosaurus toe bone. can u plzzz tell me what it is? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The photos are too fuzzy to be sure, but I can say with near certainty that it's not a dryptosaur toe bone. They are ridiculously rare and look very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Need better pics, please. "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...
Fossildude19 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Looks more like a burrow cast to me. But better pictures would help. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman7 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 better pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsofnj Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Looks like common ironstone. Big Brook is just loaded with the stuff. It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling. - Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I don't think this thing is bone. It looks more like a worn rock or concretion,but,maybe someone out there recognizes something unique about it to call it differently. Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman7 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 however when u flick it, it has a slight ping noise which fossil bones sometimes have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The ironstone concretions also have that ping. FossilsofNJ pretty much nailed it, in that the stuff is everywhere. I think most of us NJ guys have some lying around, that looked like one thing or another. I know I've got a couple hanging around that I thought could be something, and later just kept for novelty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The ironstone concretions also have that ping. FossilsofNJ pretty much nailed it, in that the stuff is everywhere. I think most of us NJ guys have some lying around, that looked like one thing or another. I know I've got a couple hanging around that I thought could be something, and later just kept for novelty. I totally agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 yup...just another infamous big brook ironstone. these are examples of big brook dino bones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman7 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 hey where should i dig in the brook to find dinosaur bones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Doesn't really matter where...it was all underwater at the time. Any dinosaur material is lucky "float and bloat" material, where a carcass was washed out to sea and sank. Keep in mind that is it very uncommon, and it may take you a long time before you even find a very nondescript (and unidentifiable, for that matter) piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman7 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 well, what can i find if i dig on the tick and poison ivy infeseted higher ground woods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) well, what can i find if i dig on the tick and poison ivy infested higher ground woods? you'll find ticks, and poison ivy. and maybe a ticket if the wrong person catches you. it's a county park, and therefor illegal to dig ANYWHERE but the stream-bed. even there, your only supposed to use nothing larger than a folding shovel. the reason everyone hunts in the creek-bed is because that's where the fossils wash out into. Edited January 9, 2011 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 well, what can i find if i dig on the tick and poison ivy infeseted higher ground woods? Lyme disease. We found our first good chunk of bone ( i think dino, but could be croc or moasaur, or even more recent fossil mammal) in the brook on our second trip. Please don't go digging up the park and surrounding private property, there are few enough fossil sites left open. Besides, the stream is digging 24/7 and washing all those fossils for you; I promise you'll find more in 1 hour screening in the stream than in 2 days of digging. If you really want the big bones and teeth, try to get there before the rest of us after a big rain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Digging on the surface would do nothing. The fossils are WAY down. Short of machinery, you won't reach it. As far as I know, the only type of surface collecting that's commonly done is at museum-led trips to a marl pit in southern NJ. Even then, from what I hear, most of what is found there is Eocene/Miocene, so...no dinos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) And don't fall into the trap that large bone chunks in the brooks are dinosaur bones. There are plesiosaurs, large turtles, huge mosasaurs, and some sizable crocs in there, too. And there are also Pleistocene megafaunal remains that get in there: mastodons and giant ground sloths. Everyone wants dinosaurs for some reason so many of the bones fragments just get labeled so. Make sure your IDs are based on recognition and not merely hope. Edited January 10, 2011 by Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 And don't fall into the trap that large bone chunks in the brooks are dinosaur bones. There are plesiosaurs, large turtles, huge mosasaurs, and some sizable crocs in there, too. And there are also Pleistocene megafaunal remains that get in there: mastodons and giant ground sloths. Everyone wants dinosaurs for some reason so many of the bones fragments just get labeled so. Make sure your IDs are based on recognition and not merely hope. Agreed, but when the bone is well worn by the stream and until DNA testing ( or protein microsequencing) is commonplace for fossils of this age, all large chunks are dino bones Just like they used to be dragon bones or giants' bones before. The reason I think that particular bone (not the ironstone above) may be dino is that it looks like a fragment of a long bone that was hollow and if you see the excitement in the face of the child who found it, you'ld better have good evidence it is not a dino before you tell him that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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