Found a piece of bone yesterday on the S shore of Lake Michigan in the Indiana Dunes State Park. Won’t be able to post a pic until the weekend (at the earliest), but hoped someone might be able to help me narrow down an ID from a description.
Not sure if what I have is entire or a broken piece.
I’ll simply describe it as best I can.
It is roughly triangular and pyramidal.
The base on which the “teeth” appear is approx 1" by 7/8"X 1.25".
The 1" side is very flat, and impresses me as possibly having been broken.
From base to the tip of the “pyramid” is less than 1".
The “bone” part is yellow to cream, and the teeth are a lighter ivory shade.
The teeth impress me as very unusual, in that the entire “base” is filled with roughly round teeth of varying sizes.
So there is a “biting” surface of the size I described which is entirely filled with teeth of various sizes.
All of the teeth are roughly circular, except for a couple of very small ones near one of the points of the triangle which appear pointy.
The biggest teeth are approx 1/8" in diameter and have a slightly raised area in the center.
The smallest teeth are really small - maybe 1 mm.
Along one side of the base there are 5 1/8" teeth with a couple of very small teeth at one end.
Behind that row are another 5 slightly smaller teeth, with several more smaller teeth on the end.
The teeth are not in even orderly rows, but they do get smaller as they go back from the 5-toother side to the opposit point of the trianguar base.
Along what would be the hypotenuse there are holes where approx 20 small teeth appear to be missing.
So, any thoughts?
I’m guessing a large catfish, tho that is based on nothing other than my WAG as to what kind of animals might live in the lake.
Sorry for the lack of a photo.
It is on my desk in front of me, so ask me any questions and I’l try to answer, and direct me to any websites and I’ll let you know how they compare.
