Bone ID?

[CMD]

The person who found this, with what he stated were bone tools, in a rock shelter, with this object being at the bottom of a “rodent hole”, stated that the round forms seen on it are hardened or brittle clay. I’m mostly clueless with bone, but I found that opinion dubious. I assumed the entire piece is bone, but I could not find images online that would prove that was the case. Anybody here recognize this bone, and/or can find images of a similar bone, and/or demonstrate what the round forms are? TIA....

Edit: found in a rock shelter in Ohio.

[Lindenmeier-Man]

I’m no help Doc. Size reference might help someone else more knowledgeable ... It’s weird !

[Hoss]

It looks like bone and if brittle it is not going to last . needs to be stabilized with gomer's solution. I have never seen anything like it. I hope Painshill see it and can figure it out. I am intrigued .

[CMD]

Yeah, I too hope Roger see this. Somebody did post images of fossil Mosasaur bones that had smaller pairs of circular forms like those seen on this piece.

[Hal Gorges]

Looks like fossilized octopus suckers( pads ). But looks like bone?cant wait to hear from others.

[CMD]

This is the image someone posted, it’s one of the Facebook groups I joined, and the images are Mosasaur bones...

[Hal Gorges]

An Ocean lizard, how neat is that...

[painshill]

Yes. it's definitely the major portion of a vertebra Charlie, although I don't think it could be definitively said to be mosasaur, given that some pieces have broken off. Those saucer-shaped indents are what are know as 'costal facets' and relate to the articulation of the rib bones on the vertebral column. For that reason. you don't see then on the posterior end of the the vertebral column (the tail bones) or the extreme anterior end (the neck bones), but they're very prominent on the thoracic vertebrae in the median part of the column.

[Hoss]

Very interesting mousasour found in Ohio. I read about the Ohio Geological Gap and it says there is nothing in the geologic record in Ohio from the late Cretaceous period. It had to have been traded in from someplace . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_Ohio Interesting stuff.

[Hoss]

I typed as Roger was posting and had not seen his comment until now. Well I guess it may not be a Mousasoaur after all. But what might it be?

[painshill]

I wouldn't be prepared to assign it, apart from saying it's not from a terrestrial mammal. It could be from a cetacean, such as a small whale, or a number of other possibilities.

[Bone2stone]

What Roger said...
The costal facets look peculiar, juvenile tylosaur?

[CMD]

Thank you, Roger. I appreciate it. It does seem like an odd find from an Ohio rock shelter.

[painshill]

As Jess says, the facets are 'peculiar'... from which I assume we're both of the opinion that they're unusually closely spaced. Correct me if I'm wrong Jess. With enough Googling there will probably be a reasonable explanation for that... be it species-related, pathology-related, maturity/gender-related, or some combination of those factors.

It is indeed an odd find... but very interesting.

If you have an interest in what Native Americans thought about the fossils they found and possible explanations for why they collected and curated them, I would highly recommend Adrienne Mayor's book: "Fossil Legends of the First Americans". I think it's now out of print (despite last publication in 2015) but second hand copies appear on Amazon et al from time to time around the $30-40 bracket.