Teeth, spines, bones, and scales
The teeming life in the shallow seawater and the fresh- brackish water lakes is evidenced by common teeth, spines, and scales. These are generally quite small (less than 1 cm) but large teeth (up to 2-3 cm) may be found. Top figure from Harper (1990). Bottom two figures from d"Invilliers and Lyman (1895).
Occasional fish bones may be found, particularly in the non-marine Duquesne limestone, which has yielded bones of lungfish Monongahela and Sagenodus (Harper, 1990)
Other remains, such as bones of amphibians and reptiles, are very uncommon by may be found with careful searching. Although nearly any non marine formation may yield vertebrate fossils, places to begin to look include (based on Harper, 1990):
- The Pittsburgh Red Beds, particularly in the Turtle Creek Valley near Pitcairn (finback mammal-like reptile Edaphosaurus and the large amphibian Eryops).
- The gray limestones just below the Pittsburgh coal (amphibians Sagendus and Orthocanthus).
- The freshwater limestones of the Monongahela and Dunkard Groups.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you should be fortunate enough to find vertebrate fossils, please contact The Carnegie Natural History Museum as they may be extremely important from a scientific standpoint.
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