New Members HoustonKid Posted January 10, 2009 New Members Share Posted January 10, 2009 I have been looking for a while now trying to figure out what this is. I am not sure it is even a fossil, but I have had no luck elsewhere. I found it on the beach about a year ago near Galveston, TX. At that time it was black. It has turned brown from sitting in the light and drying out, I guess. It is very light. It is almost bone like in feel. It is approximatley 1.5 inches long and approximately 1/4 inch wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Looks like a ray mouthplate to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members HoustonKid Posted January 10, 2009 Author New Members Share Posted January 10, 2009 Looks like a ray mouthplate to me. Thanks. I looked at some photos of ray mouth plates and they look very similar. Is this one a fossil or do they all look like this after they come out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 this ia interesting. there is a another current thread about galveston finds. seems like yours may only be partially or only on the surface mineralized. Thanks. I looked at some photos of ray mouth plates and they look very similar. Is this one a fossil or do they all look like this after they come out? ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Ray plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 hi houstonkid. it's a fossil. my son loves shark teeth and we've looked for them quite a bit at galveston. if your find were white or lighter colored, that would be an indication that it was modern. but the way that it has turned dark from mineralization, which is common for that type of fossil, indicates it's a fossil. i believe it's more common at galveston to find "ray bars" that are smaller and straight than it is to find the chevron-shaped ones like you found. there are normally a bunch of them in a ray's mouth and they use them as crushing/grinding surfaces to smash the shelled critters they eat. by the way, i'm told that stingrays are getting more common due to too much fishing of sharks. so you need to be careful and shuffle your feet in the surf, and the bay side i don't even know if it would go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members HoustonKid Posted January 10, 2009 Author New Members Share Posted January 10, 2009 hi houstonkid. it's a fossil. my son loves shark teeth and we've looked for them quite a bit at galveston. if your find were white or lighter colored, that would be an indication that it was modern. but the way that it has turned dark from mineralization, which is common for that type of fossil, indicates it's a fossil. i believe it's more common at galveston to find "ray bars" that are smaller and straight than it is to find the chevron-shaped ones like you found. there are normally a bunch of them in a ray's mouth and they use them as crushing/grinding surfaces to smash the shelled critters they eat. by the way, i'm told that stingrays are getting more common due to too much fishing of sharks. so you need to be careful and shuffle your feet in the surf, and the bay side i don't even know if it would go in. I have found a few that were white and only partial peices. This is the only one I have found that was complete and this color. Your are correct about the amount of rays. We call it the Galveston bay shuffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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