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Distinctive Vertebra From The Mio-Pliocene Of Florida


Harry Pristis

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What sort of vertebra is this one from the Mio-Pliocene of Hardee County, Florida? It's almost certainly from a fish. I have a hunch what it is, but haven't been able to confirm its identity to the degree of confidence that I can put it in my drawer.

Opinions welcome, but it you KNOW what it's from, give us your confirmatory source.

post-42-12525352327913_thumb.jpgpost-42-12525352537163_thumb.jpg

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Harry, my first guess would be an amiid, given the ventral-dorsal flattening.

Rich

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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Harry, my first guess would be an amiid, given the ventral-dorsal flattening.

Rich

Thanks, Rich. I hadn't considered an amiid. Amia calva is known as a fossil from Florida from Miocene to Pleistocene. It is a freshwater fish, however, and this vertebra is almost certainly from a marine fish based on associated fossils (lots of shark teeth).

I couldn't access a cross-sectional view of an amiid vertebra on the www. The line drawing of a single Amia vertebra in Hulbert's book does not indicate dorso-ventral compression.

A dogfish large enough to produce this vertebra would be formidable indeed!

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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