Yesterday , while walking through a field , I found a rather large leg bone of some kind of animal . And no , it's not human. . . far too big and thick . It's an animal bone that was so heavy, proportionately , that at first I thought it was concrete . After checking , it's not , it's real . I can see the tell-tale network of holes inside it and marrow area .
Funny thing is , we don't have any native animals that would have bones that big .
Who do I call for assistance in identifying this bone ?
2007-07-11 08:26:39 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
If memory serves, you have a septic system. Where I live, having a septic system means you are fairly far out in the boonies (though that may not be the case with you). Additionally, I seem to remember you mentioning having an animal or animals.
Your first stop should be a regular old vet. A vet who specializes in all animals, rather than just house pets, may very well be able to identify what it came from, or at least the type of bone it is (i.e. femur, tibia, etc.)
If a vet cannot do it, it is unlikely that the rank and file officers from your state's division of wildlife resources (or whatever it's called where you are--the people who deal with animal populations, hunting licenses, etc.) will be able to identify it, either. A very experienced hunter who has experience hunting big game may be able to help you out, but it depends on his or her experience.
The most likely place to get help is at a University department of Anthropology. Many universities in the US do not have departments of paleontology, but I have never heard of a university that doesn't have a department of anthropology. What you want is a physical anthropologist, as they are the ones who deal with bones. While many anthropologists deal only with human remains, many, especially those specializing in biological anthropology are very skilled at identifying animal bones. One of those is probably your best bet. You can also try contacting someone at a Natural History Museum, but the sad fact is that many museums, unless they are attached to universities, store and display collections but don't have experts on staff who really have a lot of training. However, if you contact the places mentioned in this particular paragraph, and no one can help you, they most certainly can direct you to someone who can.
For some reason I keep thinking you are in Michigan--is that true? If so, it could very well be a dinosaur bone. The reason why I say that is because you are at the right latitude to have ancient critter remains in your area. Some of the biggest digs in the US are in places like Montana, which is at roughly the same latitude as most of Michigan. I live in Utah, where we also have a lot of dinosaur remains, and I actually know someone who found a new site when he was out riding an ATV with his brother. They were hunting in an area, and there was a lot of erosion from bad flooding the year before. They were in a creekbed and at first thought they had found a piece of fossilized wood. Closer inspection revealed it to be a bone, and he brought it back to Salt Lake, after carefully marking the place where they found it on a map. He took it up to the anthropologists at the University of Utah, and sure enough, it was a dino bone. There's a dig now down at the site. Because he had discovered the site, and because he knew some people at the U., he was able to wrangle an invitation to visit the site, which was closed to the public. There is currently a cooperative dig site there with scientists and graduate students from several universities.
The fact that it is so heavy does, generally, mean that it has fossilized, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is tremendously old. Certain kinds of soil with high concentrations of certain minerals can fossilize a bone a lot more quickly than seems possible. There was a case here in Utah years ago where someone thought they had found fossilized Native American remains, but it turned out to be simply a body that was dumped in the desert--the person was reported missing in the late 70s, if I remember correctly. What threw the original researchers off was the mineralization of the bone, and it wasn't until they did a careful grid search of the area and turned up other bones and clothing that they were able to find out what it really was.
Whatever the outcome, please let us know. It sounds like you have found something very interesting, and I will be interested to hear what you find out about it.
2007-07-11 19:22:09 · answer #1 · answered by Bronwen 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Do you have an agricultural extension service around you? Or a university's biology department. If the bone is indeed a fossil, they may refer you to the paleontology department for verification.
2007-07-11 08:32:12 · answer #2 · answered by Lepke 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You don't say where you are. I'd contact your nearest natural history museum or university paleontology department. Keep good records of where you found it. There may be more, and we learn much less from bones once they are removed from the site where they were found.
2007-07-11 08:31:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
any local museum will be able to help. A University will as well.
A quick check (it's not full proof but it usually can give you a ruff estimate) take a lighter to a small section for a moment.. if it smells like hell after words then many times it's less than something like a few thousand years old.. if it doesn't than many times it's older than that.
not full proof, but like I said.. it gives you an idea usually.
2007-07-11 08:34:01 · answer #4 · answered by pip 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go to like your nearest museum or something
2007-07-11 08:34:11 · answer #5 · answered by roar its the Quesadilla rex!! 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your county offices (u of I) extention office can help. You could check with your veterinarian or your DNR office.
2007-07-11 08:41:30 · answer #6 · answered by Cherie 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Earnest T, try your local college.
2007-07-11 08:47:24 · answer #7 · answered by mountaindew25 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋