Help With Mammal Tooth Id

[gatorjames85]

I found this in Gainesville, Fl (Hawthorne Formation). I don't find many mammal fossils, anyone know what it is?

Thanks,

James

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Senile horse?

[Gatorman]

I was thinking it could be an upper molar from a horse but it would be a very ooold horse.

[Pool Man]

I'd definatly say horse molar

[Fruitbat]

Definitely a horse upper premolar (P1).

-Joe

[Harry Pristis]

Definitely a horse upper premolar (P1).

-Joe

Can't be a P1, 'cause P1 upper is lost in Equus. Did you mean to say that it is a P2, the first of the six (P2-M3) similar cheek teeth?

[gatorjames85]

Thanks for the assistance.

[Fruitbat]

Harry....

In actuality, the upper P1 isn't always lost in Equus but it isn't the tooth pictured in this thread. The P1, commonly called the "wolf tooth" is frequently present in the maxilla of individual Equus, though it can be absent or rudimentary.

To be technically correct, I should have identified the tooth as the first 'molarized' premolar rather than as the P1 or I should have called it the P2.

Thanks for the clarification,

-Joe

[Harry Pristis]

Harry....

In actuality, the upper P1 isn't always lost in Equus but it isn't the tooth pictured in this thread. The P1, commonly called the "wolf tooth" is frequently present in the maxilla of individual Equus, though it can be absent or rudimentary.

To be technically correct, I should have identified the tooth as the first 'molarized' premolar rather than as the P1 or I should have called it the P2.

Thanks for the clarification,

-Joe

Right, Joe -- any P1 that appears in an Equus horse would be a vestigial "wolf tooth." Such a tooth is not one of the molariform cheek teeth.

Wolf teeth, when they occur, are routinely extracted because they may interfere with the bit. Wikipedia has an account of this phenomenon: WOLF TEETH

You're welcome to the clarification. I'm sure you'll have an opportunity to return the favor. We'll elevate the level of the scientific discourse that way.

[Harry Pristis]

Here's an image of an Early Miocene horse (Parahippus leonensis) palate in an interesting stage of development. In this horse, the upper P1 seems to have been functional rather than vestigial, though it is considerably smaller that the other premolars.

In this specimen, the deciduous teeth are reduced to enamel caps as the permanent teeth grow in beneath them. There is a little wear on the P1 teeth, but it does not match the degree of wear on the deciduous premolars P2 and P3. This may indicate that, as in the vestigial Equus P1, these teeth emerge without a deciduous precursor. This tiny P1 may be the first or among the first permanent teeth to emerge.