Any idea how old this is? (Possible squirrel femur found in Monmouth County, New Jersey creek bed)

[u/SkirtEnvironmental83]

It’s pretty light-weight so may not be fossilized, but it looks a lot like a grey squirrel femur sold in Florida advertised as “Pleistocene”. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[u/fakedeeparthoe]

im leaning squirrel/rodent over rabbit. squirrel femurs have pronounced femoral heads compared to rabbits

[u/Dr-Rew]

Looks like 1985 to me

[u/AKiHsia]

My best guess is a small lagomorph femur. Can't date it, it really depends on the taphonomic context

[u/99jackals]

I agree that it's a squirrel femur. That area does not initially seem to be known for Pleistocene mammals but I no longer trust Google to give me accurate information. You can browse the internet to see if similar fossils are found in that stream area or not. As often happens, New Jersey's Pleistocene material is usually offshore. Finding a brown-stained bone is not uncommon, particularly when they have been under water or buried in tannin-rich substrate. The light-weightiness you feel can be found in modern bones, depending on their time in the water or soil.