Fragment of Mandible?

[Jarl]

This was a fragment I found embedded in grayish limestone. My only guess as to what it might be is part of the mandible of a type of fish...perhaps like an Edaphodon. Any ideas and comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

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[RiverWalker]

Very weird, but I see where your comming from with the fish jaw, how in the heck did you get it out of the limestone? Also, nice to see fellow Iowa fossil hunters here though.

 

[Jarl]

The thing was partially embedded. I sat down on a limestone face and saw it. It stood out because of it's dark color against the light gray limestone. So, I looked at it really close and noticed the fine fingerprint-like lines on it. From thence, just picked at it until it popped out. I don't think there was anything else of it left in the rock, so it seemed to be an isolated fragment. I did some more nosing around and found a site that has some decent pics that seem somewhat in the ballpark of what this might be..a dental plate of some crustacean eating fish. Easy to see how it had adapted, having traction to hold on to those slippery animals and such. I guess since the mandibles are so dense, I have read that often this is most of what people find of the fish. So, whole body specimens are rare, I guess. Thank you for commenting RiverWalker!

 

[Jarl]

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[Jarl]

I have found fragments similar to the first photo on the link I posted. Also, that, the second, fourth and second from the bottom photos are rather convincing to me, in that they look similar in shape and texture to what I found...not exact but as I said earlier...'ballpark'.

 

[GatorBoy]

I thinking turtle shell fragment

 

[Age_old]

More pictures and angles would help. Also, where was it found?