OK, what's this?

[BEHR655]

I found this bone 2 weekends ago down the end of Great Bay Blvd. in Tuckerton. I actually forgot about it until I saw it in the back of my suv today. I can't figure out what it is. Anyone have a clue?

Steve

 

[grendel]

g

 

[bobpbx]

That is pretty cool Steve. I wonder what it is. It can't be fish, right? Some sort of a bone from a mammal? I would take it to a university close by.

 

[Tom]

Looks like a shoulder blade to me. How big is it?

 

[BEHR655]

Looks like a shoulder blade to me. How big is it?

It's about 1' long and 5.5" at the widest point.

Steve

 

[dragoncjo]

I thought it looked like a scapula too when I first saw it. Pretty strange looking, nice find.

 

[Bobbleton]

i'd say a partial whale scapula judging from size and location . . . only thing is i see no socket . . . my money is on some whale bone, though. cool find.

 

[woodjin]

I was thinking shoulder blade also. That would would be about human size wouldn't it?

Jeff

 

[swwit]

LOL

 

[Gerania]

I was thinking shoulder blade also. That would would be about human size wouldn't it?

Jeff

Not quite.

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/McNair/2001/jackieorcholl.htm
Diagnostic Criteria for the Comparison of Human and


http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/millimeters-to-inches.htm
millimeters to inches conversion calculator - length @ metric conversions . org

Gillian

 

[bobpbx]

Bring 'er over my house, we'll pressure wash it. Or get a 5 gallon can and boil it in a mild bleach solution. I'm really curious to see what it is. How about a flipper from some mammalian of the sea?

 

[Windsor]

It looks sawed off to me somewhat... Not sure what it's from, but could it have been used as a tool for something at some point?

 

[uuglypher]

I found this bone 2 weekends ago down the end of Great Bay Blvd. in Tuckerton. I actually forgot about it until I saw it in the back of my suv today. I can't figure out what it is. Anyone have a clue?
Steve

No, I don't know, what it is, but I'm pretty sure what it isn't. I'm reasonably savvy about comparative mammalian osteology, and I can attest that it bears no resemblance to any mammal's scapula I've ever seen. The edges of the plate have fine serrations/undulations suggestive of a plane of juncture ( termed a "suture") with an adjacent flat bone. I gotta wonder if it's a bone from the head of some sort of fish, or possibly from the shell of a large chelonian/turtle ??
Let us know what you find out.

Dave

 

[Forester]

I agree with Dave, it looks like it is from a turtle. It is very flattened and has the pattern of the shell on one side. Sea turtles are found along the Jersey coast, so this may have been from one that washed ashore.