fowells Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Can anyone tell what these are? For scale, the boots in the first pic are size 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Biiig critter! The right one is a vertebra centrum, I think, and with the concave/convex articulation suggests sauropod. <take this with a grain of salt until someone who knows something speaks up> "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...
Troodon Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Big bones, fowells can you confirm the locality of where these were found. I was under the impression that Jurassic sauropods dinosaurs come off the Colorado plateau which is in the far western part of the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 My first thought was titanothere, but the vertebra in the last photo is too concave. I am going with Jurassic dinosaur material... likely sauropod as troodon suggests, but I don't see any Morrison Formation in the plains of CO. There is some however in the foothills, say between Ft Collins and Laramie. If you found them in the plains, I will vote against dinosaur, if it is from a more three-dimensional area, I will say sauropod. Feel free to PM me if have more questions about these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fowells Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 I double checked. Definitely NE Colorado. Near the Wyoming line. Thanks, fowells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Leaning against dinosaur if they were found in the plains and not foothill areas. Looked at a geological map and there are Tertiary exposures near the Wyoming line so that's a clue for experts in that time period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Plenty of Mesozoic sedimentary deposits north & east of Fort Collins, "near the WY line": "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...
Troodon Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 (edited) Yep so how near is near and I think they are cretaceous. Edited July 4, 2014 by Troodon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Are there any large K-critters with this centrum morphology? "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...
Troodon Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Not from the late cretaceous think most of that area was marine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fowells Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 The 2 photos of the other side of the vert are blurred but you can see the large lump of limestone matrix attached if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 The 2 photos of the other side of the vert are blurred but you can see the large lump of limestone matrix attached if that helps. Yes, that may help quite a bit. I had taken the bulge to be part of the morphology of the vertebra; this revelation opens up more possibilities that are more likely given the presumed location. "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...
fowells Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Troodon, The bones were found in the Grover/Hereford area. Does that help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Well yes and no. If you look at the geologic map Auspex posted it shows the area you mention as tertiary deposits which rules out dinosaurs. In looking at a more specific geologic map the deposits appear to be Oligocene maybe Miocene. So we need someone knowledgeable in that time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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