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!
