Fossilized Ear Bone of Sperm Whale

Item Description

This is an impressive, good sized and very well-preserved example of the hard to find fossilized ear bones of a whale from Florida. The label accompanying the piece states that it's from a whale, so we don't know the exact species, but I've seen references online that say these could be from a balaenopteroid baleen whale. For reference, the anatomical name for this bone is Tympanic Bulla. The piece dates back to the Miocene Epoch (15 million years ago). It's incredibly detailed, distinct and impressive for its size and quality.
From the collection of Jack Arbiser, MD,PhD an internationally known dermatologist who specializes in minerals of the Southeast USA and Israel. He obtained his BS and MS in organic chemistry at Emory University. During his masters degree, he introduced Drs Dennis Liotta and Dr Raymond Schinazi, who developed Emtriva, an antiviral cocktail which transformed HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic disease. He obtained an MD and PhD (genetics) at Harvard Medical School, dermatology residency at Harvard, and Howard Hughes fellowship with Dr Judah Folkman, father of the field of angiogenesis. Dr Arbiser was the first to show how dominant oncogenes stimulate angiogenesis. He returned to Emory, where he became the inaugural Thomas Lawley Professor of Dermatoloy. He has cofounded Accuitis, a clinical stage company focusing on inflammation and fibrosis, and ABBY with a novel compound for brain tumors.