MilesofTx Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I think I know, but I would like to find out what the experts think of this jaw bone. Brazos River Sealy, Tx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 alligator or croc. www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
explorer1 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 is it minerlzed/? it looks mammal really hard for me to tell awesome possum or coon maybe. also i have gravel for sale check the trade room or my posts. god hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 hmm, what to do, what to do. ok, admittedly, it seems like auri is pretty much always right, but i'm still thinking it's a piece of a paleocribbage board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesofTx Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 is it minerlzed/? it looks mammal really hard for me to tell awesome possum or coon maybe. Sorry for my ignorance, but what does mineralized mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Tracer I think you might have something there, all he needs now is some pegs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesofTx Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 Does anyone have a picture of a croc jaw? Croc was my first thought, but I cant find one that looks like what I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 hmm, what to do, what to do. ok, admittedly, it seems like auri is pretty much always right, but i'm still thinking it's a piece of a paleocribbage board. Great idea! Now all we need is a jaw with 121 tooth sockets... "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 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 oh, it's mineralized, unless he oiled it or something. regular bone wouldn't be polished like that, i don't think. miles - mineralization, or permineralization, is where the original material of whatever (bone, wood, etc.) has been replaced over time by mineral. in other words, the thing's turned completely or partially into "rock" due to, for instance, water with dissolved silica in it soaking into the thing over long periods of time. you'll see people on here talking about holding a match flame to bone to see if it burns and smells bad or not, or tapping something against a bone to see if the sound is dull or "clinky", etc. the point is that if it's mineralized, that's an indication that it may be much older than if it isn't mineralized. crocodiles don't live around here now, so if it's modern, then it's from a gator. if it's really old, from a more tropical time, it could be from a croc. i think. then again, i might just be full of snarge again. hard to tell sometimes with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesofTx Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 oh, it's mineralized, unless he oiled it or something. regular bone wouldn't be polished like that, i don't think.miles - mineralization, or permineralization, is where the original material of whatever (bone, wood, etc.) has been replaced over time by mineral. in other words, the thing's turned completely or partially into "rock" due to, for instance, water with dissolved silica in it soaking into the thing over long periods of time. you'll see people on here talking about holding a match flame to bone to see if it burns and smells bad or not, or tapping something against a bone to see if the sound is dull or "clinky", etc. the point is that if it's mineralized, that's an indication that it may be much older than if it isn't mineralized. crocodiles don't live around here now, so if it's modern, then it's from a gator. if it's really old, from a more tropical time, it could be from a croc. i think. then again, i might just be full of snarge again. hard to tell sometimes with me. It totally has the feel and sound of the other fosslis I have. The wide end that I assume would be nearest the end of the snout is odd to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 In the book that I have with a croc jaw bone," A pictorial guide to fossils", the bone does not match. I am thinking that it is something else. The teeth sockets do not look the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
explorer1 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 most crocs and gators have a porus bone strucuture, like pits in the bone or small holes, this being in tx is brown thats why i asked if it was minerlized, crocs and gators in north tx are normally a lighter color or black. that is why i said possible mammal jaw, i really just dont know. also i have gravel for sale check the trade room or my posts. god hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Can you tell me what formation it came from so I know what age to be looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
explorer1 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 if yall look at pic 3 their appears to be shark bite marks on it, or somekind of bite mark the long scratch in the bone, second ,pic 3 does have pits in the bottom side of it, so yes i would say gator or small croc. if it is mammal which i dont think it is now , i would lean toward tapir but na . also i have gravel for sale check the trade room or my posts. god hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Maybe gater then because it doesn't match croc pics that I have. I am still thinking something else though because of the color and tha fact that it is not showing to be porus all over. It looks to solid not porus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
explorer1 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Maybe gater then because it doesn't match croc pics that I have. I am still thinking something else though because of the color and tha fact that it is not showing to be porus all over. It looks to solid not porus. i agree but wait look what i found miocene gator bout the same size as well. also i have gravel for sale check the trade room or my posts. god hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 explorer you beat me to it, I just found a gater jaw bone and I do believe that is what it is. So Gater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Looks totally Pleistocene to me, gator, as croc is generally older than Pleistocene in TX, and the area you hunted is Pleistocene/Holocene. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesofTx Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 Sorry to beat a dead horse or gator or (your animal here) but, I am puzzled by the way the teeth sockets are closer to the outside of the bone in the back and move inward toward the snout as well as the size of the sockets from big to small very quickly. It also turns outward near the snout intead of rounding in. It's just a little piece of jaw but its about the only thing I have found thats not freakin horse. So I realy am curious and appreciate the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 look at some pictures of gator jaws and look at the area right near the front of the lower jaw. gators live a snatch and roll kind of lifestyle and having a different angle to the jaw in the front makes sense to me for that purpose. they also have big differences in tooth sizes and they're not uniformly graduated in size like a pearl necklace or anything. there's nothing wrong with the fossil, i don't believe. of course, you can also bear in mind, but i don't think it's the case here, that a lot of fossils, particularly really old ones that were buried fairly deep, have been altered in their dimensions by pressures exerted on them during the period in which they were buried and mineralizing. but if that were my fossil, i'd stick it in my collection as a gator jaw fragment and not worry about the ID. it's darn sure not from a horse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bj aurora Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I am going to come in from left field here - I thought gators and croc teeth were much more culindrical, these are more flattened and ovate - my first thought when seeing the second picture was a wahoo jaw - maybe this is more fish than reptilian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bj aurora Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 sorry - I meant cYlindrical - gotta love small laptop keyboards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Absolutely not gator. That's a pachy jaw....would bet good money on it. Def a large Cretaceous fish jaw. Only 2 would fit -- Xiphactinus, and Pachy....X-fish have diff sized teeth, Pachy pretty much all the same. I have a complete 8-foot pachy, and the jaw/teeth match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Absolutely not gator. That's a pachy jaw....would bet good money on it. Def a large Cretaceous fish jaw. Only 2 would fit -- Xiphactinus, and Pachy....X-fish have diff sized teeth, Pachy pretty much all the same. I have a complete 8-foot pachy, and the jaw/teeth match. I am with you Xiphactinus, Pachyrhizodus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Absolutely not gator. That's a pachy jaw....would bet good money on it. Def a large Cretaceous fish jaw. Only 2 would fit -- Xiphactinus, and Pachy....X-fish have diff sized teeth, Pachy pretty much all the same. I have a complete 8-foot pachy, and the jaw/teeth match. Holy cow! Somehow my reply to the other jaw thread got here!!!! I have no idea what this jaw is. I was referring to the other Jaw ID thread going on. Sheez. Teknologee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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