My first ever cetacean ear bones! I found this on an overnight hike I did with Craig early in 2020. We found a huge amount of fossils but could only keep a few as we had to hike everything back out. It is very rare for the bulla and periotic to be found together like this as during decomposition they will usually fall away from the skull.
UPDATE: this fossil has been donated to Te Papa Tongarewa - Museum of New Zealand for further study.
UPDATE 2: Felix from Te Papa has had an initial look at the ear bones and send me a picture with the parts of the earbones labeled. Thanks Felix! It has the malleus bone as well as the bulla and periotic.
Te Papa collection number: S.48821
Watch the video of it being found
Age: Miocene