Isurus planus Shark Teeth Fossil

This image is of some fossil teeth of the Mako shark aka Isurus planus (Agassiz, 1856) on display at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History (August 2017). It dates to the Miocene Epoch (about 15 million years ago) of the Neogene Period. The fossils were found in Brown Mountain slit layer of Bakersfield, California USA. It appears the genus was renamed in 2021 to Cosmopolitodus (Glikman, 1964) an extinct mackerel shark.

The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is located at the College of Charleston, 202 Calhoun Street, 2nd Floor, Charleston, South Carolina 29424.

Learn more at their blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/macebrownmuseum/

Isurus planus Shark Teeth Fossils

Here are some images of Isurus planus shark teeth fossils. The Isurus is also known Mako sharks. Fossils were found from Shark Tooth Hill, California, USA. The sharks existed in Miocene Epoch.

Le Brea Tar Pit Fossils

This video produced by Voice of America highlights the Le Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles, California. The pits have produced over 5.5 million fossils over the last 100 years. The fossils found there date to the Pleistocene.

Learn more about the Page Museum at the Le Brea Tar Pits at their web site: http://www.tarpits.org/

Gomphothere Tusk Fossil

Picture of a display at the Red Rock Canyon State park in California, USA as of October 2013. It shows a mammal like elephant tusk called gomphothere. The fossils are from the Claredonian era (late Miocene epoch - Neogene Period) and were found in the Dove Spring Formation.

Learn more about fossils from this area: http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/redrock/redrockfossils.html

Thanks to Kenny for the picture.

Image of more remains.

Saber-tooth Cat Tooth

Picture of a display at the Red Rock Canyon State park in California, USA as of October 2013. It shows a tooth and part of the jaw from a saber tooth cat and in the background is a cougar skull for comparison. The fossils are from the late Miocene and were found in the Dove Spring Formation.

Learn more about fossils from this area: http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/redrock/redrockfossils.html

Thanks to Kenny for the picture.

Mystery Rock - It Fell From the Sky?

My friend David visited the other day and brought a number of Ordovician fossils found south of Lexington, Kentucky to get my opinion on their identification.  Toward the end of his visit, he brought out a black-green glassy specimen.  Hopefully, I am getting the story about this right so here goes...

He told me when he lived in California over 20 years ago where this piece was acquired.  While visiting some friends they showed him a place in their garage with some burn marks on concrete.  They said a large blacken mass showed up during a storm in the garage and appeared to have fallen there. [left the garage door open?]  The piece is about 12 cm x 9 cm x 6 cm.  It is a black to olive-green in color with a reflective surface with signs that air bubbles were in it.  It has a white crystalline stones embedded in parts of it.  The piece was part of larger mass that they had given pieces away to other visitors.  My friend got the last piece.

I asked if there were was a heating furnace or stove around. No and the building did not date back to a time when coal heating would have been used.  Upon examination, no metallic pieces were found but I did find a small brown spot in one of the holes.  See pictures of close up this odd hairy object (plant or insect).

My first guess was coal slag though not sure why there are white rocks in the piece.  Looked at it maybe being California obsidian but that does not appear to have bubbles.  Maybe it was part of some sort of industrial process and was thrown from a furnace to this house?  Maybe an glass artist lived nearby and this was failed artwork piece?

Odd, brown object in one of the small cavities.

Modern Day Brachiopod Terebratalia transversa

UPDATED: The brachiopod shown in the picture was mislabelled in more ways then one. First the genus name shown is spelled wrong. It should be Laqueus but it does not stop there. Thanks to Howard for this correction. If you look at images of modern day brachiopods found off the coast of California, you will find this image is a closer match to a brachiopod called Terebratalia transversa (Sowerby, 1846). So the BIG lesson here is just because someone gives you something that is labeled, check its naming and visual reference!

This picture is of a modern day brachiopod found near Catalina Island off California at about a depth of 100 meters. It was found in 1985 and is called Lacqueas californicus.

Thanks to a member of Kentucky Paleontological Society for showing it to me at the Fossil Festival.