- Fossil Identification Guide Turtle Shell
- Fossil Clams Shell Identification
- Florida Turtle Identification Guide
Fossil Identification And Classification Fossil identification can be a challenging proposition. Often a small detail is all that seperates one species from another. Still overall classification system is not so difficult to understand.
Fossils of animals are classified, as are living specimens, by observing the body structures and functions. While there are a few unique challenges in classifying fossils, the basic scheme of organization is the same. Going one step at a time can make fossil identification possible for anyone. Biological classification systems have a long history. Aristotle, working in ancient Greece, sought to classify animals by comparing the essence of the species. His system was a detailed system that included descriptions of the body. He believed that all species related to earth, air, fire, and water and classified accordingly.
More than a few centuries later, Carolus Linnaeus created another organizational system. His system was hierarchical, with increasingly detailed separations among members of the groups. Today, scientists use more or less the same system. Living organisms are grouped according to their similar characteristics.
Therefore, animals are in a group separate from plants, separate from bacteria, etc. Breaking down the animal kingdom, the phylum level attempts to put animals into broad categories of similar body types. Phylum Porifera contains animals whose bodies are a collection of cells that loosely come together and are filled with many openings or pores. An example of this is the sponge. Post test study guide. Phylum Mollusca all have soft bodies, no internal skeleton, and, often, are able to make shells.
Phylum Echinodermata all have shells with a bumpy surface, or “spiny skin” as their name implies. Subsequent groupings are formed on the same basis: similarity of features, even when the features are minute or on a chemical level. The classification divisions are as follows: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species.
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(You can preview and edit on the next page) Here are some recent submissions we have identified. Click below to see fossils from our visitors. Found in shale bank on the beach. There are some great website for viewing photos of the different species.
Here are just a couple that show off many different types from the same order: and try for fossil identification of crinoids. Of course, there are lots of books that will help you with fossil identification of your favorite fossil.
These are some that we use. I recommend them because they are easy to read, inexpensive, and they are readily available. Simon & Schuster's Guide to Fossils. Field Guide to North American Fossils from the Audubon Society. For children: An Usborne Guide Rocks & Fossils Armed with some great resources and your growing interest, you’ll be impressing your friends as you introduce them to your collection’s specimens by name.
Be careful, though, they just might think you need to find some modern animal friends to keep you company! Do you have a fossil question? Send us a note.
If we can help we will. We wii never make your personal information available to anyone for any reason.
The specimen on the lower right is an approximately 80 million-year-old fossil dinosaur egg from the Late Cretaceous Djadochta Formation of Shahbarakh Usu, Mongolia. It was collected by A. Johnson on 17 July 1923 as one of a group of 3 weathered oviraptorid eggs.
The object on the upper left is a water-worn rock, most likely from a river. Its resemblance to an egg is merely accidental.
River-rounded rocks are commonly mistaken for fossil eggs. This is just one method by which nature produces rocks that resemble eggs. Sedimentary concretions are another common imposter. Concretions often form when some object acts as a “seed” for the deposition and cementation of sequential layers of sediment. On occasion, the matter that initiates the concretion, the “seed,” can be a fossil.
To find this out requires cracking or cutting open the concretion. Genuine fossil eggs usually have an easily identifiable shell which differs significantly from the enclosed sediments either by having a fine surface ornamentation (the smoother the 'shell,' the less likely it is to be a non-bird dinosaur egg) or a specific type of crystalline structure in cross-section. Also, because eggshell tends to be brittle, the shell is almost always heavily cracked with clear shifting of the eggshell bits.
Ironically, one strong indication against a dinosaur egg identification is a very egg-shaped specimen: most fossil eggs are not 'egg-shaped' because most fossil eggs come from non-avian dinosaurs and are everything from spherical to torpedo-shaped. Additionally, the thickness of the “shell” can rule out an egg ID. Embryos in hard-shelled terrestrial eggs need shells through which they can conduct gas exchange – basically so they can breathe. Past a certain thickness, this becomes impossible. And don’t forget, if a chicken egg were included in the photo, it, like the oviraptorid egg would be properly identified as a dinosaur egg.
Paleocurrents.com - Fossils of the Peace River, Arcadia, FL Peace River near Arcadia, FL Land & Marine Fossils (Jan/Feb, 2006) The Peace River near Arcadia, FL contains a wealth of land and marine fossils. The marine fossils commonly found include shark, ray, pufferfish, barracuda, dolphin, etc.
Land fossils commonly found include horse, glyptodont, alligator, bird, turtle, snake, deer, etc. There are two reasons that marine and land fossils are found in the Peace River. First, this part of Florida experienced numerous cycles of being land versus being submerged in sea water. Second, this area currently has a river running through past deposits which include intermixed marine and land fossils. So, it's quite common to find marine fossils (e.g. Shark teeth) in the same area as a land fossils (e.g. Horse teeth).
The geologic formation is likely the Hawthorn Group, Peace River Formation, Bone Valley Member which ranges in age from Miocene to Pliocene. IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTE: As you may know, vertebrate fossil collecting on public lands is illegal in most of the United States. However, the State of Florida allows for vertebrate fossil collecting on state lands under, but you must get a cheap (currently $5). The purpose of the permit is not only to manage this non-renewable part of Florida's heritage, but to help paleontologists learn more about the range and distribution of the state's fossil animals. So, please do it! To apply or renew a permit.
This museum also offers and a wealth of other resources such as info on fossil clubs, scientific publications and databases. Please consider sending images of important finds to the Florida museum (address on fossil ID page) and possibly donate important finds. You will notice in the images below that my Florida paleo buddy (Ron Seavey) has a lot of specimens represented. That's the benefit of living in the area!
Snaggletooth Shark Teeth (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Ray pavement teeth (ray barb next to dime) (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Mako Shark Teeth (R.
Seavey) Ray pavement tooth plate (connected) (R. Seavey) Shark Teeth (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Shark Teeth (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Shark Teeth (S.
Wagner, 1/3/06) Drum fish tooth (2nd from left), snake vertebra (3rd from left) (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Turtle shells (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Possibly gar, barracuda and sawfish teeth (S. Wagner, 1/3/06) Glyptotherium Species (Glyptodonts) armor plates off large armadillo like creature (R. Seavey) Horse tooth (R. Seavey) Whale inner ear bone (Tympanic Bulla) (R. Seavey) Alligator osteoderm Bony armor plate off the Alligator's back (R.
Fossil Identification Guide Turtle Shell
Seavey) Deer antler (R. Seavey) Sting ray dermal plate (R. Seavey) Sting ray barb (R.
Seavey) Unknown. Seavey) Alligator scute 2' by 2 1/4' (R. Seavey) (R. Seavey, 4/5/06) Unknown mammal tooth. Seavey) In the Peace River Screen sifting scoop & shovel More about the tools, where to get them and how to make them, see. Screen Sifting Tool More about the tools, where to get them and how to make them, see. If you notice any errors in fossil identification, please. NOTES:.
COLORADO: Many people contact me wanting to know if I can join them fossil hunting in Florida, but I live in Colorado. A good friend of mine named Ron Seavey lives in SW Florida not far from good Peace River locations, such as Arcadia. He's hunting in the rivers on nearly a daily basis and enjoys company. So, shoot Ron an email at:. TOOLS: People also want to know more about the tools and where to get them. For answers, see.
Notes & References: (1) ' Fossil Shark Teeth of the World: A Collector's Guide', Joe Cocke, Lamna Books, Torrance, CA, 2002. (2) 'Fossilized Shark's Teeth & Fossils: A Photo Identification Guide', Byron Fink, 2004.
I've been wondering more lately about turtle shell fossils. It seems like over time tj and i have found quite a bit of fossil turtle shell pieces in various places, we've also found quite a few pieces of modern turtle shell, and some that seems sub-fossil but relatively old. Almost all of the 'thick' shell pieces we've found, say over half an inch thick, has been very dark, and very heavy, implying full mineralization. Thinner shell we've found has run the gamut from obviously modern to sub-fossil to very fossilized.
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At any rate, i'd sort of started thinking of the thicker stuff as all fossil. But then recently at the coast i found a piece of shell from near the margin/edge of the carapace, and it was fully an inch thick, but it did not seem old. It wasn't like brand new bone, but it wasn't at all like i've come to expect. Ok, i just realized how much i'm rambling here - i'm dog tired, seriously.
At any rate, what i was wondering was is whether others are finding really thick shell pieces they suspect of not being that old, and also whether anybody knows of a source to try to identify whether turtle shell pieces are from extant or extinct species. Lets see some pics. Also some general localities. I'm assuming its beach material, pleistocene, High Island, etc? With the museum we did a lot of collecting and have buckets of turtle material,lots of tortoise and croc, and the rest of the usual suspects. The thickest material has been giant land tortoise, pleistocene and older.
I've got quite a few 'mineralized' specimens that haven't been altered in color, but the usual is that wonderful choclate (mmmmm choclate) brown color with the distinct weight. Anyhoooooooooooooooooooooooo, time for something with chocolate. Tracer, I don't have direct answers for you other than I don't think you can identify turtle shell to species unless you have most of an individual shell. I believe one positional shell piece, the nuchal, is at least diagnostic of a family and perhaps genus. A few years ago, I met a sea turtle researcher online who was a friend of a friend.
He's Jim Parham who was at UC Berkeley at that time. You can try tracking him down. Angus Stydens, whom I recently unmasked finding a friend from about twenty years ago, has a friend, Jim Knight, a reptile expert in SC.
He co-wrote the article on the sharks and rays of the Chandler Bridge Formation - should be easy to find as that paper was published in Acta Polonica Paleontologica which is available online. Well, maybe i'll take some pictures at some point of the various types of shell i'm trying to assess, but this is the sort of thing i mean. This is obviously 'fossil', in that it's heavily mineralized, but i don't know if it's from an extant species. What i'd sort of gotten to thinking was that maybe there were some pretty big turtles and tortoises in the holocene that i wasn't considering. And although they're 'scarce' enough for me to never have seen one in the wild, alligator snappers still get pretty big.
Usasf credentialing study guide. I tried to find a reference to how thick their shell material is, but didn't see one. Of course their carapace is pretty distinctive, but anyway, i'm rambling again. Somebody should take my computer away when i'm exhausted.
Fossil Clams Shell Identification
The world's oldest sea turtle fossil shows the ancient animal swam the oceans at least 120 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, according to a recent analysis. The now-extinct Desmatochelys padillai turtle skeleton was found in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, and is 25 million years older than the Santanachelys gaffneyi turtle from Brazil that previously held the record for the world's oldest.
Padillai specimen was dug up by hobby paleontologist Mary Luz Parra and her two brothers in 2007. However, it wasn't until Edwin Cadena, a researcher at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Germany, and James Parham, an assistant professor of geological sciences at California State University, Fullerton, inspected it that the fossil was determined to be the oldest sea turtle specimen in the world, dating back to the, between 145.5 million and 65.5 million years ago. 'The cool thing about this turtle is that it's really old, but it's not very primitive,' Parham told Live Science. Though the specimen is at least 120 million years old, the turtle doesn't look like an ancient species that was early on in its evolution, and instead is 'very specialized,' he added. This suggests there could be older sea turtles still to be found (if they are preserved), the scientists said. The finding also suggests that turtles could have more than once throughout history, the researchers said. In fact, because D.
Florida Turtle Identification Guide
Padillai is so old but doesn't look primitive, it might not be related to modern sea turtles. Rather, it might have evolved to live in the sea, and then other turtles later evolved in the same way from a separate ancestor, they said. Parham said there has been some resistance to this idea from other scientists. However, it shouldn't be an altogether surprising theory, he added, because mammals, reptiles and other animals evolved separately several times to produce a variety of sea-dwelling animals. For instance, mammals advanced many times to become sea creatures like dolphins and seals, and they came from different ancestors.
The researchers think it's likely that turtles did the same, and evolved several times with different descendants to live in the sea. Some became ones like D. Padillai, while others evolved independently to become the modern turtles that live in the sea today. The Desmatochelys padillai turtle skeleton is almost completely preserved. Credit: PaleoBios/Cadena To, the researchers examined the invertebrates, called ammonites, preserved in the rocks and sediment around the turtle. Ammonites were widespread throughout the Cretaceous period, which means they can be used to figure out how old the surrounding rock is, Parham said. The finding that the turtle lived during the Cretaceous period could help shed light on sea turtle history, the researchers said.
The exact point that turtles split into sea dwellers and land dwellers has been difficult for researchers to identify. There are few turtle fossils from this period, so every specimen is important for understanding the story of. The researchers haven't yet conducted tests to determine whether the D padillai fossil evolved independently from modern-day turtles, but paleontology labs around the world are studying the idea.
'We're trying to figure out how turtles who lived over 100 million years ago are related,' Parham said. 'It's not easy!' Some partial remains of D. Padillai were originally discovered and dug up in the 1940s in Colombia, but were not studied for many years. For Parham, the new research comes full circle, because he was first introduced to these fossils when he was in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. Now, 18 years later, he realizes the fossil's significance. The new finds dug up in 2007 had better location data, which allowed the researchers to date the turtle more accurately.
'It was really exciting that this turtle that I kind of knew about, was somewhat familiar with, and then all of a sudden, it was like, 'Hey, we've got new skeletons, and by the way, they're super old,' Parham said. 'If I had known how old the specimens at Berkeley were in 1996, I would have included them in my dissertation, for sure.” The new study was published online Sept. Follow Live Science, &. Original article on.
Lindsay Dodgson, Live Science Contributor Lindsay is a contributing writer for Live Science who enjoys covering anything about animals, the environment and new research and technologies. She currently lives in London, where she studied science journalism at City University, and she also has a bachelor's degree in Zoology. Lindsay enjoys keeping fit with boxing, reading thriller novels and would love to travel back to Africa to go on another safari. Follow her on. Lindsay Dodgson, Live Science Contributor on.