Scutes, Albulids, Phlanges and Misc. Bones

The top 4 images on this page are probably a tooth plate of a fish. According to Ken Carpenter of the Denver Museum (who has been of GREAT HELP identifying specimens) these are probably albulid. The scale is in mm. The surfaces appear to ge enameled. These are quite rare locally.

Another in this group of interesting fossils. The scale is in mm.


Here is a very rare fish fossil from the Hell Creek formation. It is a section of the lower jaw from Belonostomus longirostris. The jaw has several large teeth in a row down the center of the jaw length but also has a line of smaller teeth on either side. This gave the fish 3 rows of teeth along the length of the jaw. The total length of the jaw is about 2 inches.

These are Crocodile (mostly Leidyosuchus though some may be Alligatorea Brachychampsa) osteoderms. They are commonly known as scutes. They are actually individual pieces of armor that the Crododile grew for protection. The scale has inch squares.

Lower right jaw section of a ptilodontoid multituberculate mammal. The front blade is the lower fourth premolar and the long molar is the first molar. This may be a Mesodma sp. but is larger than is typical of the species described from the Hell Creek according to Anne Weil, Ph.D at Duke University.

Here is a nice assortment of mixed small bones, jaw segments, claws etc. There are juveniles represented as well as older individuals. This is a pretty representative assemblage from my microsites in general with most of these specimens coming from my site 1. The scale is one inch squares.

This is a toe bone from a bigger dino. Scale is in cm. This came from my second site where fossils are not as common but uncommon stuff is found there.

A selection of nice phalanges (finger or toe bones) from my site 1. The grid has inch by inch squares on it.

These canine teeth are probably from Didelphodon sp. A rare large mammal from the Cretaceous. The right tooth and root is over 3 cm. long. Both came from my microsite 3. The left tooth broke into 6 pieces when I picked it up. It took half an hour with paleobond (superglue) and a microscope to reassemble.

A hadrosaur hoof from the top of the bed at microsite site 1. The scale is in cm.