What Is It?

Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 2nd, 2011

There are no lobsters that have claws like this in Florida, from where this was excavated. Received at the museum this week, and contributed by Dave Wooten.

What do you think this is?





Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


34 Responses to “What Is It?”

  1. alanrb responds:

    lobster claw, and a very big one.

  2. SirKen63 responds:

    It a type of claw from a crab well least half of a claw. You said it from Florida so I would say Stone crab. One very very big Stone crab.

  3. odioustrident responds:

    The cast of a massive lobster claw?

  4. finfin responds:

    Not sure, but I wish I could have eaten it! Was there a butter washtub nearby?

  5. Redrose999 responds:

    It’s a claw of some kind of crustacean. http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ce-Cr/Crustaceans.html

    http://www.onlineweblibrary.com/blog/?p=615
    Look at the lower claw. It looks similar. DANG these guys get HUGE!

    Perhaps a crab of some kind. They can get darned big.

  6. aenea responds:

    Looks like half of a giant crab pincer to me.

  7. Redrose999 responds:

    It is in the Crustacean family. I’d say a crab.They do grow to their environment and can get pretty huge.

  8. Richard888 responds:

    It is either identical or very similar to the lower claw of a Maine lobster. It is half a foot long so if it came from a specimen of similar proportions it would be gigantic. It is polished so has received a lot of action. Since no lobsters like it are found where it was excavated, could it have been carried there from the North Atlantic by natural means thereby explaining the erosion?

  9. rickodemilo responds:

    It’s a huge lobster claw.

  10. Cryptoz responds:

    Jaekelopterus rhenaniae.

  11. Cryptoz responds:

    There could have been American lobster, Homarus americanus, possibly living there at a time. This could have been one of the bigger ones. The claw looks like its about 6 in. long. These lobsters can reach 2 feet long. I think it could be possible its an American lobster.

  12. mandors responds:

    To me it looks more like a crab claw. Though wrong color for stone crab, and wrong shape for blue.

    Is it real? The edge kind of has that cracked plaster of Paris look.

  13. steelcut responds:

    Giant Lobster Claw

  14. Hambone responds:

    Godzilla’s thumb.

  15. TimmyRyan65 responds:

    Being from Maine, it definitely looks like part of a lobster claw.

  16. Nny responds:

    Megalodon tooth!

    Not that it would help me determine anything–but what area of Florida? It’s gotta be coastal I imagine.

    It’s interesting that it appears hollow.

    Godzilla fought this giant crab once and it fell back into the ocean. Maybe it’s a piece of one of it’s babies.

    It also looks like the tip bone of some giant’s pinky.

    I have no idea, but it looks pretty strange.

  17. Sordes responds:

    There is a large crab, the Florida Menippe mercenaria, which can reach quite respectable sizes, and their claws can be quite big, like this one:
    http://www.floridaskindiver.com/Stone%20crab%20monster%20claw%20sw.jpg
    However, even for an outsized specimen the “mysterious” claw would be probable out of proportion. Given the size and shape (it seems the tip of the claw was broken) of the claw, a lobsters seems most likely as identity, especially when you keep in mind that lobsters are transported to nearly all places for consumption, and perhaps this claw was only kitchen waste.

  18. fossilhunter responds:

    Greetings All!
    A few questions cross my mind:
    – is this a fossil, or a recent claw?
    – what was it “excavated” from, and where?
    – what is the history of restaurants on or near that site?

    Many male lobsters and crabs have larger claws than the females, both currently and in the fossil record. Big male lobsters can carry a fair portion of their weight in their claws, which they all use to attract the ladies. Claws are differentiated into “cutter” (slicing) claws, and “crusher” claws. This is a crusher, as evidenced by the molar teeth-like parts where the claws would come together. Depending on whether this is a fossil or fresh, there should be some crustacean claw expert somewhere who could at least narrow down which species it is from.

  19. flame821 responds:

    ? Jaw bone? since its hollow I’m guessing it might be a reproduction.

    Can you tell us what this is made of? Does it seem to be bone, composite, plastic, plaster, etc.

    It looks to be 6-7 inches tall and maybe 2.5 – 3 inches wide at the base. Is this correct?

  20. littlefeat responds:

    Lobster claw.

  21. teamsasquatch responds:

    What is a massive giant out of place coconut crab claw??

  22. stickyum responds:

    A whale’s tooth.

  23. happycebu responds:

    Loren,

    This might just be an important discovery of a before now unknown prehistoric species.

    I suggest that you contact an expert in the field of study. Dr. Simon Braddy at the University of Bristol would be a good starting place for you. He discovered the Jaekelopterus rhenaniae mentioned above. You can get his contact information by googling the University of Bristol and then looking up his name there. I did.

  24. dermal_ridges_are_proof responds:

    It’s a bear ….it’s obvious!

  25. oldphilosopher responds:

    My guess is a sculpture; a work of art. Striking. And fulfilling it’s task.

  26. wolfatrest responds:

    Looks a lot like part of a jawbone from something with very rounded teeth.

  27. Mibs responds:

    Looks interesting, but the proportion based on the measuring tool shows us that it’s a little over 6 inches. Without that scale it looks like a foot+ long claw.

  28. D2K4 responds:

    Mastodon jawbone?

  29. charlie23 responds:

    Assuming that it’s real and about 6″ long it is exceptionally large but not outside of the known range of an American Lobster, Homarus Americanusis. Judging by the shape I would expect that it’s a dactyl from the crushing claw of a male from that species.

    As Sordes noted above, without some kind of reference to the actual age of the shell the fact that American Lobsters aren’t indigenous to Florida is irrelevant: they’ve been shipped down the coast for well over 100 years.

  30. j stewart responds:

    looks like a shell from some sort of a sea snail type creature…

  31. Roy3rd responds:

    It resembles the jawbone from a whale to me.

  32. finfin responds:

    Giant lobster claw. You can buy one here.

  33. YowieLover responds:

    Lobster or crab…not sure about what it was but I bet it was delicious!

  34. theSnark responds:

    An OOP coconut or spider crab? Because it is hollow, I’m inclined to say it’s not a fossil. What are the exact dimensions?

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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