| Whle preparing this lesson, I read online copies of Pony Express. A note written by Brian Ahern in Florida Fossil Horse Newsletter, Volume 3, Number 3/4, 2nd Half 1994 stirred my interest in examining fossil bones in what I will now call the Hallquist collection. All of the bones were found near our home. Many came from a bone bed. The following diagram and quotation are keys to identification of one bone. Note that Brian was fourteen years old when this information was posted. |
 "In Equus, how can you tell a cannon bone in the front leg from the back leg, and the
left from the right? When you hold the proximal (top) end of the cannon bone toward
you with the rounded side up, you will note that the proximal end of the metacarpal
(front leg) is oval in shape with the bottom flattened. The proximal end of the
metatarsal (hind leg) is larger and rounder. (See diagrams below.) Looking at the
proximal end of either the metacarpal or metatarsal, you will see that both will have
a small facet on them. If this facet is on the left side then the bone comes from a
left limb. If the small facet is on the right side then it's from a right limb."
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I put two photos together and scanned them to make the image at left. The deposit
was within a few inches of the surface in a local area that was being developed from
being a meadow into a row of homes.Some terminology: the end of a leg bone nearer an animal body is proximal. The farther end is distal. The photos were taken in August 1996. I did not know that they are from one metatarsal bone until I read Brian's note on Jan. 4, 2005. The following digital images were prepared on Jan. 5, 2005. |
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To: glennandnancy@charter.net.com Subject: Re: your 1994 cannon bone note
Date: Thu 01/06/05 12:18 PM http://glennbowie.tripod.com
Do you mind the way I used your cannon bone note? Best regards, glenn
By all means have fun at it!!
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