TheBurningMap Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Strange looking fossils with vertebrae(?) embedded in them....Found in southern Brevard county, Florida, USA in some construction fill from the same area. Coprolites maybe??? TheBurningMap Space Coast, FL, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Weird, weird, weird. The vertebra reminds me of the ones from angel shark that can be found in the Cretaceous of NJ. But maybe it's just an unusual sort of concretion that has formed preferentially around them. What age are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Man Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Hi there! Welcome to the Forum, from Sarasota. Those appear to be swollen fish Verts. I have yet to find a good reason as to what causes this, but it seems they may more readily fossilize. I find them often down here in Sarasota. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBurningMap Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 I just got this email in from Richard Hulbert at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Leave it to the experts!! I learned something new today!! These are some especially nice examples of what are often called Tilly bones. The more technical term for this is hyperostosis. In certain species of fish, including jacks and drums, as the individual grows old it begins to add bone material around various parts of its skeleton. In some species it is the vertebrae (like the kind you have found), in others the spines, and in still others bones from the skull. It is part of the natural aging process of the species involved and may be related to storage of minerals like calcium and phosphorous. Fossil fish hyperostoses are very common along both Florida coasts. The extra bone makes them stronger than normal fish bones, plus they are larger and thus easier to see. Richard Hulbert Collections Manager Division of Vertebrate Paleontology Florida Museum of Natural History Dickinson Hall, University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611-7800 TheBurningMap Space Coast, FL, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 The book "Vertebrate Fossils: A Neophytes Guide" by Frank A Kocsis lists a very similar fossils as a "swollen fish vertebrae" like Dan said. They might be common down there, but not in North Florida. I've never found one before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I just got this email in from Richard Hulbert at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Leave it to the experts!! I learned something new today!!These are some especially nice examples of what are often called Tilly bones. The more technical term for this is hyperostosis. In certain species of fish, including jacks and drums, as the individual grows old it begins to add bone material around various parts of its skeleton. In some species it is the vertebrae (like the kind you have found), in others the spines, and in still others bones from the skull. It is part of the natural aging process of the species involved and may be related to storage of minerals like calcium and phosphorous. Fossil fish hyperostoses are very common along both Florida coasts. The extra bone makes them stronger than normal fish bones, plus they are larger and thus easier to see. Richard Hulbert Collections Manager Division of Vertebrate Paleontology Florida Museum of Natural History Dickinson Hall, University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611-7800 Isn't a 'Tilly Bone' actually a fish ballast bone and not a bone with hyperostosis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Isn't a 'Tilly Bone' actually a fish ballast bone? They were once coined "ballast bones" in an attempt to explain their purpose. "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...
Cris Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I just found this in the Dictionary of Ichthyology: Tilly bone = an unusually thickened bone which may occur in the axial or cranial skeleton of some fishes, e.g. thickenings of haemal and neural spines, postcleithra and anterior cranium in Lagocephalus. Named for Tilly Edinger of Harvard (1897-1967) who studied these structures. Being larger and denser than usual bones, they are often found concentrated on beaches and in middens and, when rounded by wear and wave action, tend to look very unfish-like. Often found in fish in hypersaline environments and may play some part in calcium regulation. Also called hyperostosis, q.v Learned something new today, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBurningMap Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 Named for Tilly Edinger of Harvard (1897-1967) who studied these structures. Good old Tilly!! TheBurningMap Space Coast, FL, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Thanks for sharing, always good to learn something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBurningMap Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 For any one interested in the original reference for "Tilly Bones", here is a link to the article: Tilly Bones Reference - Oceanus 1966 I am always adding to my library and this will make a great addition. TheBurningMap Space Coast, FL, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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