nieuwendaal Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) Hello everyone , This was purchased in a New Mexico fossil shop in 1990 as a thagomizer . It is 6" long & weighs 12 ozs . It is a Utah specimen . To me it looks like Tyrannosaurus tooth . What do you think it is ? Your opinions would be greatly appreciated . Thanks so much . Edited February 6, 2012 by nieuwendaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossisle Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Ha just looked up Thagomizer, what a hoot Go Gary Larson!! Your fossil is very cool!! Cephalopods rule!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Can someone please find an answer here, I have been sitting on the edge of my seat for hours! Please Cole~ Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition. Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axelorox Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Thagomizer is the term used for the spikes on the end of a stegosaur tail. The fossil in the pic doesn't look like one; the shape isn't quite right. Looks more like a tooth to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 If it is a tooth, it is huge, but I agree, it does look more tooth-like than Thogomizer-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I think it looks more like a whale tooth. but am not sure if any are found in Utah, but this could be misleading without proper provenience. still a nice whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Looks very 'whale bone' like to me. Possibly shaped and polished. Another piece, not so eroded. Edited February 6, 2012 by Bill KOF, Bill. Welcome to the forum, all new members www.ukfossils check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead9 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 It is a fossil rhino horn from Indonesia, mostly likely Solo River or Sangiran Dome. Still Life Fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indy Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 It is a fossil rhino horn from Indonesia, mostly likely Solo River or Sangiran Dome. Interesting... Over the years I've seen some very amusing "rock shop" identifications Flash from the Past (Show Us Your Fossils)MAPS Fossil Show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 i had to see some of these stegosaurus tail spines, these are from Friutbats PDF library, well worth seeing... Defense capabilities of Kentrosaurus aethiopicus Hennig, 1915 Heinrich Mallison "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneman007 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) T-Rex teeth are serrated and do not look like horns. Could it be a pliestocene/holocene horn? 12 oz. is very light for a fossil of this size. I hate to say it, but it looks like a cow horn. Edited February 6, 2012 by Boneman007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead9 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Here is a photo of a small rhino horn from the Sangarin Dome. Still Life Fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Here is a photo of a small rhino horn from the Sangarin Dome. Rhino horns are made of Keratin and not very likely to fossilize. Your fossil looks like a carved and polished bone. I think I can see cancellous bone which does not occur in rhino horn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Maybe a cow/bison horn core (polished)? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the tatter Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I vote for whale tooth. Not that I know anything Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I emphatically agree with Al Dente: It can't be a rhino horn because it appears to be bone. and it certainly appears to be shaped and polished - it's toothy shape is more artistic than morphologic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nieuwendaal Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Thanks everyone , however I have found out from one the so called experts it is Megaloceros , so I am returning it for full refund , as I don't collect mammal fossils . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 wow, bought in 1990, returning in 2012 for a full refund. Now thats what I call great service! Kudos. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I emphatically agree with Al Dente: It can't be a rhino horn because it appears to be bone. and it certainly appears to be shaped and polished - it's toothy shape is more artistic than morphologic. I also agree with al dente... the white dots on the bottom right side (and lesss so o n the left) defintely seem to be internal bone structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave pom Allen Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 wow, bought in 1990, returning in 2012 for a full refund. Now thats what I call great service! Kudos. :D :D :D :D :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Wow, not even 9am (EST) yet this morning, and so far I've learned what a "Thagomizer" is, spikes on the end of a stegosaur's tail, rhino horns, Keratin, and Megaloceros. Sheesh, time for a nap before I can read the next thread. Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kehbe Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Wow, not even 9am (EST) yet this morning, and so far I've learned what a "Thagomizer" is, spikes on the end of a stegosaur's tail, rhino horns, Keratin, and Megaloceros. Sheesh, time for a nap before I can read the next thread. Daryl. I was thinking the same thing Daryl! I'm worn out from going back and forth to google and wikipedia! I have learned more new information here at The Fossil Forum in a few months than I did in the whole of my high school science career! Gotta love Gary Larson's "Farside" It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. Charles Darwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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