3.8" Turtle Finger/Claw (Judith River)

Size: 3.08" total length, 1.5" claw, 1.58" toe phalange

Species: undetermined Turtle species

Age: late cretaceous- 75.3-79 MYA

Location Found: Judith River Formation, Northern Montana, USA 

The toe bone and claw were most likely from different turtles but fit together nicely for display purposes. 

a fossil ungual is the most distal (farthest from the body) bone in a digit (finger or toe). It serves as the bony core that supports a claw, hoof, or nail in terrestrial vertebrates, including dinosaurs, mammals, and birds.

At Stones & Bones, we do our very best to properly identify every fossil we offer. Nevertheless, paleontology is an evolving science, and isolated specimens can sometimes be difficult to assign with certainty. Our identifications reflect our honest and informed opinion, but alternative interpretations are always possible as new research emerges.