Giorgi Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Hello, I found this tortoise shell in cave, in Western Georgia (Caucasus). It was visible from surface and I have no idea about its Geological age. I'm quite sure that it doesn't belonged to living tortoises which inhabit currently Georgia. Maybe someone knows what species it might be, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas-Tunnel Rat Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 welcome to TFF! I am unfamilar with terropene remains. But I think those might be a bit too recent but I am sure the Cenozoic guys can take a look seeing Im currently more specialized in older fauna. My reasoning it that there seems to be too much well preserved "fibers" that connect the shell chunks together which means the rate od decay was not what normally is seen in fossil terropene. It is still a interesting find, good luck. 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...
Fruitbat Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Giorgi... Welcome to The Fossil Forum! Unfortunately, tortoise shells can be difficult to identify...especially without any kind of stratigraphical data. How big are those pieces? It sounds as though you're familar with the Testudo species that are found in your area. What makes you think that your specimens don't come from one of them? -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgi Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 Fruitbat Texas-Tunnel Rat Thanks for reply Three species which are knonw from Georgia (Emys orbicularis, Mauremis caspica, Testudo graeca) and all of them have plates more quadratic, not prolonged as in this specimen. Stratigraphical data would be problematic because pigs enter in the cave and dig, because of this many bones are exposed on surface. There is up to 15 caves in the valley and its known that some of them were inhabited by prehistoric people. not sure about this cave. adding new photo with rules, rules is in centimeters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Do you think is fossilized though, to me it don't look like it... " We're all puppets, I'm just a puppet who can see the strings. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 I found out long ago that just because something doesn't LOOK fossilized doesn't mean that it isn't OLD! I've got some Pleistocene material from strata that have been radiocarbon dated at 54,000 +/- years that look like they might have fallen out of a living animal's mouth yesterday! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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