r/boneidentification

Found this small, curved white structure on a gravelly beach in Taiwan. It’s about ~2 cm long (scale in photos). The material looks bone-like.

At first glance I thought it might be a fish bone or possibly part of a fin element, but the curvature and texture feel a bit unusual.

Would appreciate any insights or comparable specimens. Thanks!

Hi all, I've been looking for a good reference book to use while trying to identify a collection of fossils we've received at work. It's all material roughly from the Miocene-Pleistocene of the Carolinas, from the teeth it seems to mainly be horse, peccary, tapir, bison, cervids, cetaceans, etc., lots of ungulates that do still exist and so may be easy to find a close enough modern relative to compare. I know I'm not going to find a book of such detail for fossil taxa specifically without individually researching every animal of a certain size alive at the time and printing out ten million papers, which is kind of what I've been doing anyway and I can't live like this anymore lmao. My main experience is with teeth and the majority of my knowledge of post cranial material is with primates anyway, so I'm just trying to find something that can work as a good reference while I learn/fill in the blanks in my knowledge of ungulate osteology. Even something that just focuses on common North American fauna like bison and deer will be helpful! Can be any level of technicality, I'll figure it out haha. Thanks in advance!