Bobby Boessenecker

Hi all,

One possibility for this bone is a phalanx of a primitive mysticete or odontocete. The flattened articular surface is characteristic of Neoceti. Archaeocetes like Eocene basilosauridae (e.g. Dorudon atrox, shown here – from Uhen, 2004) have quite narrow elongate metacarpals and phalanges, unlike extant Neoceti.

This is surprisingly skinny for a neocete, but we’ve got many primitive Neoceti from the Oligocene of Charleston without well-preserved flippers. Most actually lack flippers, so anything is possible.

Hi all, sorry for the delayed response! Thanks for tagging me, Eleanor. Definitely from a large cetacean, and if Pliocene or late Miocene, baleen whale is the most likely possibility. Unfortunately as @lcone stated above, it’s not really possible to say much more about the specimens.

HOWEVER – please keep your eyes peeled for skull fragments and earbones! South Africa has a limited but very critical assemblage of marine mammals that is poorly documented, but efforts by my colleauge Romala Govender are changing that. If you find anything further that is more diagnostic (i.e. skull bits and earbones), then I strongly recommend contacting Dr. Govender at Iziko Museums.

Yeah thanks, the age information is pertinent for those of us unfamiliar with local stratigraphy. Again, I’m not a reptile guy, but you should look into comparisons with sea turtles as well. Don’t know anything about Eocene crocs.

Well it’s procoelous (or possibly amphicoelous) so the most likely options are mosasaur or crocodilian. I have a hunch it’s the former, but I’m not a reptile guy!

Hi Laura,

Unfortunately I’m on the east coast and don’t really have access to that locality. However, I suggest getting in touch with local collector Chris Pirrone (cpirrone [at] pirronelaw.com) who is one of my avocational colleagues in the bay area, and knows the local stratigraphy quite well.

Cheers, Bobby

Hi all and @bmacfadden, I had a successful two hour visit to Capitola yesterday and found some articulated Cetorhinus vertebrae, a dermochelyid turtle shell element (leatherback) as well as the full compliment of calianassid shrimp claws (7-9 specimens) and Dendraster sand dollars (about 7 specimens) you guys need. The shrimp claws are easy enough to put in the mail, but a bit of matrix is still in place on the Dendrasters; I can try and remove as much as possible.

Admittedly the bed which the calianassid claws are so common in was barely exposed owing to a lack of cliff collapses over the past 6-8 years or so; there hasn’t been a good fall since 2007.

Rather than mailing them, could I leave them at your future address in Santa Cruz?

Also for some weird reason I can’t see any text in this text box while I’m typing – the text color comes in as white. Any tips or is it just broken?

Hi @bmacfadden, sure thing – I may be going to Santa Cruz tomorrow, and if so, will collect some calianassid claws; or, if not tomorrow, sometime later in the week. Any other requests for other invertebrates? I could probably include some whale bone fragments as well.