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Identity Of Bones In Longboat Key Still A Mystery

Sarasota Herald-Tribune photo by ROB MATTSON

Siblings Reagan, Rylee and Kyle Robinson (left to right), of McKinney, Tex., hold the skeleton of an animal they found that washed up, in Longboat Key.

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2008

LONGBOAT KEY - A set of bones found on the beach by Tiffany Robinson and her children could be a deep-sea snake or an eel, a taxidermist told the family.

An archaeologist told Robinson the fossil may be that of a large fish.

Robinson has her own theory about what the skeleton with large head and sharp, daggerlike fins could have been.

"It looks like a dinosaur," she said.

The remains stumped scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and stymied professors at the University of South Florida.

"I'm more baffled that the specialists, the people who should know what it is, has no idea what it is," said Robinson, a Dallas native who is vacationing in Sarasota with her family.

When Robinson and her children — Rylee, 11, Reagan, 10 and Kyle, 8 — spotted the bones on June 17, their mother turned the find into a paleontology lesson. The family took the remains back to their condo and the children did Internet research.

"It's such a great learning experience for the kids," she said.

When they had no luck online identifying the remains, the family then shopped the bones around to experts, who suggested it could be a reptile, a Goliath Grouper or a red drum.

Whatever the skeleton is, Robinson said she will ship it back to Dallas before the family vacation ends next week. Kyle plans to hang the strange remains in his room.

"But I told the kids that if it is something that has never been discovered before, we've got to share it with the world," Robinson said.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Anthony Cormier contributed to this report. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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