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SET OF TWO COMPLETE INTACT FOSSIL TOOTHED WHALE (DOLPHIN) VERTEBRAE Suwannee River - Florida, U.S.A. MIOCENE to PLIOCENE PERIOD: 23.3 - 1.81 million years ago This set of two exquisitely preserved fossil vertebrae come from a prehistoric toothed whale (dolphin). The species is difficult to attribute just based on the isolated specimens but it is some type of dolphin similar to the bottlenose dolphin alive today. There is an atlas vertebra and a thoracic vertebra included in this set, Both specimens are in remarkable, intact condition compared to the partial, broken toothed whale vertebrae typically found in rivers. Both still retain delicate anatomy and their respective processes as well as complete neural openings where the spinal cord passed through. The atlas vertebra is the first vertebra behind the skull and all mammals only have one of these type vertebra in their entire skeleton. The other vertebra would have come from somewhere in the upper to middle of the body. Both are perfect to display alongside a shark tooth collection as this creature would have shared the same waters and time period as many of the dangerous sharks found off the East Coast of North America during the Miocene / Pliocene including the infamous MEGALODON shark, upon which those massive sharks loved to feed upon these smaller whales. These are excellent fossils for any prehistoric marine exhibit. Both vertebrae are a natural dark chocolate brown and very dense. Intact with NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. COLOR IS NATURAL AND AS FOUND! Whales, dolphins and porpoises make up the group of air-breathing marine mammals called CETACEANS. Their body structure is highly adapted for their marine environment. These features include paddle-like forelimbs, lack of external hind limbs, large tail for propulsion underwater, dorsally located nostrils for breathing just above the surface of the water, specialized ears for underwater hearing and a streamlined body profile for efficient hydrodynamic locomotion. All cetaceans are carnivorous with a main diet consisting of fish, invertebrates and other marine mammals. Many cetacean fossils are found in sediments alongside fossil shark teeth and other marine vertebrates but whale fossils are much less common compared to other marine vertebrate fossils of the same period and region and whale fossils are often found in fragments or show evidence of predation by prehistoric sharks, no doubt, cetaceans most feared enemy in their prehistoric past. RARE CONDITION SPECIMEN SET OF COMPLETE AND UNBROKEN ATLAS AND THORACIC FOSSIL DOLPHIN VERTEBRAE 3.2" - 3' across x 3" - 2" high $395 for both WH001 Actual Item - One Only |
