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Found fossils, now what?

post #1 of 29
5/7/10 at 9:10pm
Thread Starter 
I have fossils and I need to know what to do with them. They were found in a dirt hole that was around 100 feet deep and then given to me.

Is there an archeologist here who can tell me what dinosaurs these belonged to? I was thinking either a medusa or cyclops but I don't want to jump to conclusions without a scientific confirmation.

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post #2 of 29
5/7/10 at 9:27pm
Everyone knows cyclops are from fairy tales. Those bones are clearly from leprechauns.
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post #3 of 29
5/7/10 at 9:45pm
#3 looks like a fossilized shard of coyote shit. I hear there's a decent market for that.
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post #4 of 29
5/7/10 at 10:04pm
Sabertooth lion?
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post #5 of 29
5/7/10 at 11:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cimabue View Post
Sabertooth lion?
Which one? I thought this too for #6. Who do I sell/donate these to so they can be studied and put them all together to make the full skeleton?
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post #6 of 29
5/7/10 at 11:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosu3 View Post
I have fossils and I need to know what to do with them. They were found in a dirt hole that was around 100 feet deep and then given to me.

Is there an archeologist here who can tell me what dinosaurs these belonged to? I was thinking either a medusa or cyclops but I don't want to jump to conclusions without a scientific confirmation.


Archaeologist don't do dinos, you want a paleontologist.
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post #7 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:03am
Well, first of all, you are not looking for an archaeologist, you need a paleontologist. Secondly, it's very unlikely that any of those specimens came from a dinosaur, per se, more than likely they are all from fish, sharks specifically. New Jersey has a huge amount of fossilized shark's teeth and other marine fossils, but actual dinosaur fossils from NJ are quite rare (well, Hadrosaur fossils are a little more common). There are, very, very rarely, some Dryptosaurus fossils found in the state, but again, this is incredibly rare. I am hardly an expert. #1 looks like it's from an Angel shark, and #4 looks like Odontaspis (another shark). There would be experts at the Trenton museum who could tell, or you could contact the NJ Paleontological society. http://www.njpaleo.org/ ~ H
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard View Post
#3 looks like a fossilized shard of coyote shit. I hear there's a decent market for that.
Actually, there is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite
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post #8 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:13am
let me give you 600 dollars for all of them so i can ebay them and PROFIT!!
hehe. no i won't
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post #9 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntsman View Post
I am hardly an expert. #1 looks like it's from an Angel shark, and #4 looks like Odontaspis (another shark).
I wouldn't say "expert", but I know enough about sharks and their teeth to offer a contrasting opinion. I am going to call number 1 and 5 respectively Carcharocles megalodon. Hard to say for certain without some scale, but number 1 looks like the root lobe of a much larger shark than the Squatiniformes you mention, and number 5 is clearly a very large crown. Right shape, approximate size match... Megalodon. Don't look like it's from the same tooth though, I'd wager that they were found at different sites. Number 4 is definitely an Odontaspididae. 2,3, and 6 look kind of like sticks to me. But maybe that's just a bad picture. 2 and 3 are not shark fossils. 6 might be, but it's hard to tell from this angle.
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post #10 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim View Post
I wouldn't say "expert", but I know enough about sharks and their teeth to offer a contrasting opinion. I am going to call number 1 and 5 respectively Carcharocles megalodon. Hard to say for certain without some scale, but number 1 looks like the root lobe of a much larger shark than the Squatiniformes you mention, and number 5 is clearly a very large crown. Right shape, approximate size match... Megalodon. Number 4 is definitely an Odontaspididae. 2,3, and 6 look kind of like sticks to me. But maybe that's just a bad picture.
I bow. Also, your taxonomic nomenclature is better. Megalodon is also very, very common for NJ. ~ H
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post #11 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:25am
Oh, and unless there is something else quite extraordinary about those teeth (like they are say... less than 10k years old or something, showing that Megalodon might still exist) they are in very poor shape and aren't worth much.
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post #12 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntsman View Post
Megalodon is also very, very common for NJ.

~ H

I usually got mine from the Carolinas when I was buying them. They were less "pop culture" back then though, and so were markedly cheaper.

I've heard of people finding them way inland in areas that used to be coastal regions, but are now land locked midwestern states. That's gotta be confusing for whoever finds them.
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post #13 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:37am
Thread Starter 
#2 is definitely bone, marrow is visible. #3 is like stone #6 also looks like it has marrow. It's dirty though but underlying is black and shiny, almost like coal.
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post #14 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosu3 View Post
#2 is definitely bone, marrow is visible.

#3 is like stone

#6 also looks like it has marrow. It's dirty though but underlying is black and shiny, almost like coal.


Well, if they are indeed bones, they aren't from a shark. Sharks don't have bones. Aside from the obvious shark parts you pictured, I can't really help you.
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post #15 of 29
5/8/10 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 


says these are all from a Megalodon, #6 looks close to the one on the far right
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