How to Recognize Bone

How to recognize bone

• “The four S’s”

• • Shape

  • • Fossilized dinosaur remains will have the shape of vertebrate bones

    • • i.e., a fossilized rib of a Maiasaura is going to look somewhat similar to the ribs of other live vertebrates

  • Shade

  • • The remains change in color depending on the minerals in the environment they are fossilizing in

    • • Out in the Two Medicine Formation, these remains will generally be brownish-maroon to gray in color, depending on how long the fossil has been exposed to the surface

      • • If it has been exposed on the surface for a long period of time, the fossil might have more of a gray and orange tint

  • Striation

  • • This is bone texture

    • On the inside of the bone, one can see the cancellous or “spongy” bone

    • • These are the preserved spots where the capillaries would run through

  • Stick

  • • Due to the porous nature of fossilized bones, as well as how fossilized bones like to soak up fluids, these bones will often stick to moist surfaces

    • Example - if one licks their thumb then presses the presumed fossil to said thumb, it should stick (if it is a fossilized bone)

• Taphonomy

• • Bones have been found in this area with possible preserved scavenging marks

  • Being exposed on the surface for long periods of time (tens to hundreds or thousands of years), the bones can have a lot of wear and tear

  • • Chemical weathering

    • • Bones might have acid wearing on them

      • PICTURE

    • Mechanical weathering

    • • Over time the bones may have broken into more than one piece, there might be fragments missing

      • Ice wedging occurs

      • • Water makes its way into the bone, freezes and expands, and causes the bone to fracture in a wedge pattern

      • Plants love to use the bones as a sort of mineral life pack, burrowing their roots into the bones to soak up the minerals the bones have been fossilized with

      • • This can pulverize the fossil remains