Rodent Teeth; Please Help

[kauffy]

Ok everyone, im hoping some people on here will be able to help me with this huge task that i have ahead of me....these here are all the rodent teeth found in the micro mix and there appears to be several different groups and species. I have done my best to distinquish the differences between the teeth although im shure i have made a mess of it! If you have any ideas on any tooth in the photos just refer to it as (eg.; row 3 5from the right) i know pics cant show you everything and if i had the time and the patience i would try to take some "chewing surface shots" but heres some info to go with the pictures.

Row 1 (top): these teeth all curve to the left and right, they appear to mostly have 3 grooves one side and most have 3 on both, but there are one or two that have 2 grooves on both sides

Row 2: (small teeth) these ones are odd, like the first row they have a distinct curve but these tend to curve outwards (forwad or back)

Row 3: these have a very sharp diagonal chewing surface as you can see in the largest one, they have very very deep grooves, 3 on one side and 2 on the other (there seems to be a slight 3rd groove on some)

Row 4: (muskrat?) these are the widest teeth and have 4 small slender grooves, i think most are muskrat in this line?

Row 5: weird teeth, i think they could be rabbit? they seem to be flat on one side and have shallow wide grooves on the side? i have no idea?

to the right are 3 types of insisors, there are many of these but these three seem to be the most distinctly different.

last but not least, what is this flat bone? i have no idea about animal anatomy, does anyone know? and look at the bottom I FOUND A SHARK TOOTH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....some type of contamination Harry? have you been seeving any material with small shark teeth in them>>? i thought that was funny when i spotted this little tooth in the lot!

if anyone has any idea on absolutley any tooth, please let me know!

[kauffy]

For Row 2: (actually the third row of teeth) look at their shadow to see the curve, you cant see it on the tooth because its a birds eye view, but the shadow shows the curve

[Xiphactinus]

Kauffy -

The book Mammalian Osteology would be a very big help to you. It has an entire chapter on rodent teeth/jaws and identifying animals by them. It is designed to help archeologists identify animal remains associated with humans, so there are no ice age megafauna, but I think it would help you a lot.

[Harry Pristis]

That shark tooth is a nice bonus, Chris. The matrix containing the bones was fill in a fissure (a solution channel) in Late Eocene, Ocala Group Limestone -- a marine sedimentary formation. While the carbonate fossils of the limestone were dissolving in the fissure, the shark tooth was unaffected. It became just one more bone in the accumulation at a narrow place in the fissure.

[ebrocklds]

Kauffy -

The book Mammalian Osteology would be a very big help to you. It has an entire chapter on rodent teeth/jaws and identifying animals by them. It is designed to help archeologists identify animal remains associated with humans, so there are no ice age megafauna, but I think it would help you a lot.

here is the cheapest ones that i have been able to find.

http://www.google.com/products?q=Mammalian...xt&start=10

Brock

[kauffy]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the info on the book, its a bit pricey for me at the moment but i may think about it, especially if its got some good information about these little teeth.

That is a Bonus Harry! makes sence and i guess its the one that survived! it mustve been awesome finding the fissure? i know i would get excited! how did you find it in the first place? did you stumble across it, or did you find out about it through another collector?

Anyway, if anyone can ID any tooth at the moment it would be helpful...i have tried using those sheets you sent me Harry and i can see some similarities but im afraid they all look the same! haha i will try harder

Cheers

Chris

[ebrocklds]

here are a few web sites i found that is helpful

http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulleti...7/03_descr.html

http://www.pelletsinc.com/resources/skulls.html

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/OAS/oas...9/p97_98nf.html

Brock

[ebrocklds]

more links

here is one with shrew teeth reference.

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site...n_soricids.html

iguana jaws

http://palaeo-electronica.org/2006_2/dakota/systematic.htm

http://palaeo-electronica.org/2006_2/dakota/fig5.htm

digimorph skeletons of just about everything 3-d images you can move around and study

http://www.digimorph.org/navcommon.phtml

la brea material, 2 bird claws.

paleoenterprises.com/LaBrea.htm

a very useful paper from the pliocene. pocket gopher, shrew, rabbit, salamander, and bird stuff

http://www.eou.edu/geology/AlwaysWelcomeInnFossils.html

that is all for now i will continue to add more reference as i find it. i am hoping to create a good collection of resources for us all to use. if anyone feels like adding more links please do so.

brock

[ashcraft]

Here is an excellent Osteology book, and not so pricey

"Mammalian Osteology" by B.M. Gilbert, 1990

$32

You can order it from the Missouri Archaeological Society website. It has full sized drawings of many of the bones found in most mammals. I have used it to identify bone fragments from a former local swamp. Parts included skunk, muskrat, deer, etc.

[kauffy]

Thanks so much Geo, those links are exteamly useful! thanks a lot for putting some time into my question, im sure now i have a good basis, along with the sheets from harry, to start identifying some of the rodent and mammal fossils i have.

That book looks good too ashcraft, and its not to pricey either! i will look into it a bit more.

Regards

Chris