Claw? Tooth? Horn?

[Lee Hixson]

Had the chance to meet the crew yesterday, about a mile west of Crockett. Wanted so badly to find one of the original CHC concrete R/W mons on what used to be the main highway to Oakland, right after you get of the Carquinez Bridge.

Undeveloped, grassy hills by The Bay...while climbing a very steep hillside I spotted something odd. Anyone know what it is?

[Lee Hixson]

Too fat for a cougar tooth, I'm thinking, plus the attachment angle is all wrong for a tooth. Eagle and condor claws are much thinner, and longer. Too stubby for a horn. My best guess is the rear claw of a cougar. (Also, given that it is not at all smooth, could it be petrified?)

[LS 4722]

On a trip many years back, it was a camping trip where the Navarro River comes into the Pacific Ocean, I found something similar. It was a sea snail shell that had been impacted with fine grains of sand over many years. Most of the shell was gone, but the sand had preserved the spiral shape.

Your picture does look similar, but of what it could be, I haven't the foggiest.

[Ian Wilson]

I'm forwarding the photo to our reesident Archeologist/PaleoBiologist Guru, Josh Peabody.

Can you tell me what the material is? Bone? Stone?

Josh is out today, but, as others in the office have noted, he'll be able to tell you what it is; when it was broken off; it's owner's diet, sex, age; how this came to break off and why. In short, Josh is the respected expert.

[Ian Wilson]

Alrighty then!

The following is from Joshua:

It is not a tooth, horn, antler, or “claw” of any sort-extant or extinct. Its morphology is not consistent with mammals, generally, so I’m not certain what this is without holding it in my hand. My suspicion is that the piece is a serendipitous sandstone cast of something (not a bone). The simplest test is to stick ones tongue on it and if it sticks (you will actually feel a slight vacuum as the pores absorb the water off your tongue) then it is a bone and an odd one at that. If it feels rough and tastes sandy then you have a piece of odd looking sedimentary stone. Let me know the result.

Joshua Peabody
SENIOR PROJECT SCIENTIST / CULTURAL RESOURCES SPECIALIST
CARDNO ENTRIX



So, Lee, stick your tongue on this puppy and let us know what happens! (Man, I hope it's not a piece of oddly shaped eagle...stuff...)

[Stephen Johnson]

looks like a dull claw to me.

[Lee Hixson]

Tongue test was positive! I was skeptical of the test, but indeed, I had to pull my tongue off of it. Definitely stuck to it. The weight is about what you'd expect of a bone (but could be a tooth or claw, in my naive, lay opinion).

So, per Josh, it would seem to be "an odd shaped bone." But what about the flat end of it? It looks like the attachment point of a claw, doesn't it? Here are some more photos:

[Lee Hixson]

Could it be a fossil? Here's another angle:

[Ian Wilson]

From Josh over the weekend:

The tongue test is a trade secret! “Flat endâ€￾ is too flat to be the articular surface of a claw of bear or large cat-which this would need to be at this size. Now that we know it is a bone, and I can see some other angles and some much higher resolution we can do some elimination. Except the new world Edentates (sloths and new world anteaters) all mammal teeth have enamel. This object clearly has none, so tooth is out. The articular facet is “flatâ€￾ as you say which is not too consistent with the ungula phalanx (claw) of terrestrial mammals. Given the size it would need to be bear or large cat, both of which have very deeply grooved articular facets. We are left then with a bone that has an end that does not connect to another bone. There are not a lot of those. You’ve nailed the majority-ends of hands and feet, teeth and horns. Others include ribs, elements of the vertebrae, the sacrum, the scapula hyoid…etc. Give me an evening and I’ll figure out what bone fragment you have. In the field so I don’t have comparatives in front of me.

[LS_8750]

Cool!
Baby goat antler?

[Lee Hixson]

Thank you, Ian & Josh. Nice to have someone interested (and experienced) on board with this item. I look forward to your opinion.

[Steve Martin]

I'll vote for the very small antler...

[E_Page]

It looks like it might be a coccyx (tail bone) from a fairly good sized critter or a chunk of leverite.












For those who don't know what leverite is, it is a broad category of stone or rock which may have an interesting or odd coloration or may have developed into an interesting or odd shape. Specimens of leverite are most often found by inquisitive young chainmen and presented to their grizzled and far more experienced chief, who upon inspection can almost always positively identify it and inform the chainman "It's leverite. Leverite where you found it, it's just a *^&#ing rock."

[Brian Christensen]

a hog's tusk?

[Lee Hixson]

"leverite".......LOL

[Steve Martin]

"leverite".......LOL

That rates right up there with the tale of the lost Fugawie Indian tribe....

[LA Stevens]

Thanks Evan - that's a classic!

I can see the veins popping out of your head as you discuss it with your chainperson.

[E_Page]

Actually Larry, I was remembering back to a time when I was the inquisitive young chainman.

[land butcher]

That's right there with putting a TBM on the bumper of the truck and Watch for Falling Rocks.

[Lee Hixson]

Ian.....any news from Josh?