Irradiatus Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 So MikeDOTB found this awesome whale tympanic bulla (inner ear bone) at Green's Mill Run on Saturday, and he GAVE IT TO ME! Thanks Mike! (Mike's Trip Report, My Trip Report) As a biologist, I must say that this is one of the coolest things in my collection now, as the whale evolutionary lineage is one of the most useful and fascinating in teaching evolution (I teach college bio as well as research). What I was wondering is whether any of you can give me any possible information on it (anything about it's phylogeny at all, approximate age, whatever). I won't be surprised if nothing can be told from it, but it's certainly worth a shot. Cheers. "The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be. " - Douglas Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Boesse is your man for this one! From reading other tympanic bulla ID threads, it is not possible to narrow it down too far, but an acceptable label can be made. "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...
PaleoRon Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Possible ages for the bulla are Miocene, Pliocene, or Pleistocene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 You only found one there? If you walk the shallows and sand bars rather than digging or screening they are (or were) a pretty common find. That is a nice one, usually they are in pieces or very eroded. Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Unfortunately... it is difficult to identify these things. Sometimes they are identifiable to the genus level. For example, two different distinct groups of mysticetes have a bulla shaped like this; one of these groups lived in the early and middle Miocene, and the other appeared in the latest Miocene and are still living (the balaenopterids). It probably is from a balaenopterid... but more photos from different angles will be necessary to determine that. Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irradiatus Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 It probably is from a balaenopterid... but more photos from different angles will be necessary to determine that.Bobby Thanks! I'll get some more pics as soon as I can. "The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be. " - Douglas Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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