clemsonskulls Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I just posted a 5.5 inch fish jaw, and here is another one that was found in the same strata; a sandy section right above the limestone. I have not been able to find anything on line that resembles this, and I would like to see a similar complete jaw to help in assembling the pieces. Even a modern day fish, if possible, would be helpful. What do you all think about this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 What size it it, 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...
clemsonskulls Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Display box is 12" by 8". Jaw section is 3.5", with largest tooth 3/4". Small section is 1 3/4" long, with complete tooth being 1/2". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas-Tunnel Rat Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 can we see some more information please such as age and or formation. Dont think thats fish but theres better fish folk out there. Kinda reminds me of some of our Texas Mosasaurs with the concoidal teeth and mentioning of LS is a common thing in K sediments. But without locality data it could be anything. PUBLICATIONS Dallas Paleontology Society Occasional Papers Vol. 9 2011 "Pennsylvanian Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of Outcrops in Jacksboro, Texas" Author Texas Paleontology Society Feb, 2011 "Index Fossils and You" A primer on how to utilize fossils to assist in relative age dating strata" Author Quotes "Beer, Bacon, and Bivalves!" "Say NO to illegal fossil buying / selling" "They belong in a museum." Education Associates of Science - 2011 Bachelors of Science (Geology & Biology) - 2012 est. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 It's a Pachyrhizodus caninus. Really nice, kind of uncommon fish. http://oceansofkansas.com/Pachyrhi.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 If this was found at Giant Cement, it can't be Pachyrhizodus or mosasaur. This quarry is late Eocene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 If this was found at Giant Cement, it can't be Pachyrhizodus or mosasaur. This quarry is late Eocene. True - didn't know that age....It sure looks like a Pachy, and the bone preservation looks like the Cretaceous stuff from the area...could it be float or from lower in the quarry? (I know nothing about the geology of that quarry area....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsonskulls Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Thanks Al Dente for your response. The site is Eocene, and this specific layer was just above the marl in a densely packed uniform sand layer. I hope this helps in identifying this specimen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I haven't heard anyone rule out reptile... "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...
JohnJ Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I think some different views of the teeth could help. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 The teeth look a little Crocodilian to me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 The teeth look a little Crocodilian 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...
tracer Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 i find the whole thing very fishy. now i'm not sayin' eocene fishy, or cretaceous fishy, but definitely fishy. and i'm assessalyzing the bone as much as i am the denticiousnesses in leaping to that conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoc Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 The bone texture definitely looks like fish and not reptile. The teeth attachment also doesn't look reptilian. That said, I can't say I have seen a fish jaw like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsonskulls Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 This one is going to be a tough one to identify. Showed pictures to the Curator of the SC State Museum, and he has not seen this Eocene predator before. May have to show this to an Eocene fish expert, whoever that may be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Just caught this thread!! Its Conosaurus bowmani (Gibbes, 1851). Gibbes thought it was something like an eocene mosasaur, but its really some poorly known predaceous fish. Whatever it exactly was, its only known from SC and NJ. Leidy (1868) realized it was not reptilian, but bony-fish, although he mistakenly places it near Pachyrhizodus on the incorrect assumption that the poorly documented NJ material was Cretaceous. Fowler (1911) is where I know it best from, a work spanning most of the of the fish material from NJ, late Cretaceous and tertiary. I have collected and seen quite a few isolated teeth like this in the basal Kirkwood lag here in NJ. The deposit contains mixed ages, a mid-late Eocene fauna and an earliest Miocene fauna. I just recently was able to put this name to my teeth even though they are pretty clearly illustrated in the well known Fowler work. It just took a very good eye to notice that these basal Kirkwood teeth are indeed from this same fish since the original locality information is completely worthless in Fowler. Thanks to Dr. Earl Manning who is responsible for helping me put the name to my Conosaurus bowmani, although I must say I always knew it was some bony-fish This also helps confirm my belief that the NJ teeth in the lag are Eocene. Thanks! Its also quite funny how perfectly this discussion thread mirrors the taxonomic history of this critter. Everyone was so close and came up with many of the same ideas as some of the past greats of the field. It all makes perfect sense... .s ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Here are a few of my NJ specimens with cm scale. Gibbes 1851 is avilable online but may take some digging. The plates are worth it. Gibbes' description of the teeth: "They are conical, solid, sharp-pointed, slightly curved backward, fluted near the base on the inner face with smooth and fine enamel". Fowler 1911 might have a similar description and is readily available online. Edited November 6, 2011 by non-remanié ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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