cowgirlfossils Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 We found this amazing vertebra today. There is a 2" brush siting on it. Not sure of age but found near the top of the pit in a pure silica sand layer...What kind of critter?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel59 Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Looks like a whale not sure what type... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Looks like a whale vert to me also. Very nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Looks like a whale vert to me also. Very nice find! Thank you! Any idea of species? Or how do I figure size of animal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 I wanted to enter find of the month..but it would not except it....Does anyone know why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I wanted to enter find of the month..but it would not except it....Does anyone know why? We jumped the gun a bit; you should be able to enter now. (It seems that somebody doesn't know what day it is.... ) "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...
cowgirlfossils Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 more info on this whale. Seems it was of the Orca family 6 to 10 million years ago. It was a full grown male 20-30 feet long. Going to get more info from an expert in Los Angeles in the next couple of weeks. Folks are pretty excited about it! WEEEEEEEEEE!!!! :drooling 38: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paco Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I would be, too. That is a great find. Congrats!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Sorry, it's probably not an orca. Fossils of Orcinus have only been reported from Japan (a single tooth) and Italy (a partial skull, the extinct dwarf killer whale Orcinus citoniensis). I'm not really sure who you talked to and what criteria they used, but isolated fossil (or even modern) vertebrae are not diagnostic to the species level, and often not even to the family level; often, they aren't even diagnostic to mysticete v. odontocete - they are all very, very similar. This can be identified as a large cetacean, probably a baleen whale (mysticete), and that's about it. Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THobern Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I was looking at the picture earlier today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Sorry, it's probably not an orca. Fossils of Orcinus have only been reported from Japan (a single tooth) and Italy (a partial skull, the extinct dwarf killer whale Orcinus citoniensis). I'm not really sure who you talked to and what criteria they used, but isolated fossil (or even modern) vertebrae are not diagnostic to the species level, and often not even to the family level; often, they aren't even diagnostic to mysticete v. odontocete - they are all very, very similar. This can be identified as a large cetacean, probably a baleen whale (mysticete), and that's about it. Bobby I'm confused..If they can't tell species, how did they know Orca from a single tooth?? It was taken to a college in northern Calif. and it was a Professor in Paleontology...was very excited because it is so unusual. Now going to a prof. in la for verification. Will keep all updates as info comes in.. This is who it's going to..Head Paleontologist Larry Barnes (Los Angeles Natural History Museum) Edited July 13, 2011 by cowgirlfossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm confused..If they can't tell species, how did they know Orca from a single tooth?? It was taken to a college in northern Calif. and it was a Professor in Paleontology...was very excited because it is so unusual. Now going to a prof. in la for verification. Will keep all updates as info comes in.. This is who it's going to..Head Paleontologist Larry Barnes (Los Angeles Natural History Museum) I'm pretty sure he meant that the vertebrae are not diagnostic. Teeth may not always be diagnostic to species in all cases, but can definitely narrow it down more than vertebrae can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Okay... 1) I was talking about vertebrae, not teeth. Teeth are generally not diagnostic for many types of toothed whales, *but* Orcinus is an exception because the teeth are anteroposteriorly compressed (i.e. flattened from back to front) and unique among delphinids. *Some* teeth of toothed whales are identifiable. 2) I don't care if some northern CA professor identified it. Unless it was Larry Barnes himself, I'm going to be skeptical simply because there are less than a dozen people in California who could possibly make the identification. That being said, I've not met a single marine mammal paleontologist who would attempt to identify an isolated thoracic vertebra of a cetacean to the genus/species level: this just looks like an ordinary large cetacean vertebra. Maybe someone like Larry Barnes knows something I don't - but if the identification was made by someone who is not familiar with cetacean skeletal anatomy, I would be highly suspect of how "precise" their identification is in this case. Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Okay... 1) I was talking about vertebrae, not teeth. Teeth are generally not diagnostic for many types of toothed whales, *but* Orcinus is an exception because the teeth are anteroposteriorly compressed (i.e. flattened from back to front) and unique among delphinids. *Some* teeth of toothed whales are identifiable. 2) I don't care if some northern CA professor identified it. Unless it was Larry Barnes himself, I'm going to be skeptical simply because there are less than a dozen people in California who could possibly make the identification. That being said, I've not met a single marine mammal paleontologist who would attempt to identify an isolated thoracic vertebra of a cetacean to the genus/species level: this just looks like an ordinary large cetacean vertebra. Maybe someone like Larry Barnes knows something I don't - but if the identification was made by someone who is not familiar with cetacean skeletal anatomy, I would be highly suspect of how "precise" their identification is in this case. Bobby I'll let you know after Professor Barnes see's it. Thanks for the info.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm pretty sure he meant that the vertebrae are not diagnostic. Teeth may not always be diagnostic to species in all cases, but can definitely narrow it down more than vertebrae can. Thank you..I'll keep this one updated as necessary.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 I was looking at the picture earlier today. Boy I only wish I could find a skull like that!! Things here are pretty spread out due to erosion of the soft sand. Thanks for the picture! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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