Posted by DarJadon Brock on June 29, 2008

Q: I've researched my mystery bone and have a possible identification. I believe it to be a pharyngeal bone from the jaw of a fresh water drum fish. Now, the mystery continues as to HOW these bones were deposited in an open meadow. My theory is that Nichols Creek (located near the meadow) around Quitman Arkansas, flooded earlier this spring causing some fish to flow into shallow areas and were trapped. As the water drained away , the land exposed the remains of the doomed critters. Perhaps you or other readers have an explanation? Thank you for your website!! DarJadon

Habitat: field/meadow

State: Arkansas

Habitat: field/meadow

A: Right on the money! I definitely agree that your bones are the pharyngeal teeth of a Freshwater Drum. These teeth are not a part of the jaw of the fish, however, but are in the back of the throat near the gills and are used to crush hard foods. I googled this and found the same great photo of the entire structure. Looking at your original photos, I didn't have any sense of their size (really should have had a way to determine how big these were) but even so I would have had a difficult time coming up with this answer anyway.

The pharyngeal teeth of fish, like the drum, are often the last bit of the skeleton to disintegrate so those bones could have been in that field for years. Any kind of flooding would allow the fish to enter that area, then once stranded would leave behind their bones. But another scenario that makes as much, if not more sense to me, is that these teeth were simply washed up into the field from the river and deposited there during a flood. Actually, your bones looked rather fresh to me rather than old so I assume it was a recent event. Your sleuthing was productive - good for you!

And thanks too for getting back to me with this. I've learned something too. Many thanks.

John Wiessinger ( June 29, 2008)