Help with identifying

[Archie G.]

I’ve been trying to get this (apparent) tooth identified for decades. Found it in Horry County, South Carolina, in a wave while I was in the ocean near the shore. A large deposit of shell and debris brushed against my leg. When I reached down, this came up in my hand with the broken shells and debris. Quite a find for a nine year old. 
 

I thought it might have been an ancient shark tooth, but no shark tooth I’ve seen has this appearance. Any help identifying this is greatly appreciated!

 

cheers,

Archie G. 

[fossilus]

The "root" end looks spongy, like bone. I would say that this is just a broken piece of bone that happens to look like a tooth.

[Fossildude19]

Not seeing any evidence of enamel, but I do see bone texture.

Maybe a worn piece of rib from something?

[ynot]

It looks like a claw core to me.

[Mahnmut]

Antler tine?

[val horn]

 Not tooth because it has bone texture and no enamel.  The sharp tip does not look broken so the suggestion of antler tine seems likely.  It was a nice find.

[Ivaldir]

+1 for antler. The very fine and dense spongiosa suits this.

[Brandy Cole]

Due to the dense spongey internal structure, I would say sloth claw core and antler tine are the two most likely possibilities.  But I would lean antler tine since I don't see the other features at the base that I would expect to see in a claw.  Others may know more.

[Carl]

I'm thinking it's too smooth to be a claw core. Antler or other very worn bone seems best. Definitely not a tooth.

[Archie G.]

Thanks to everyone for the help. It seems nearly everyone is leaning toward claw or antler time. So I’m guessing we can definitively say it isn’t a tooth? It always struck my amateur mind as a tooth; seemed intuitive. But I’m happy to entertain these alternative interpretations. The question now is, if it’s claw or antler, What sort of antler/claw? And how old? Also, I’d love to speculate about how and why I found it in the ocean. Any other thoughts are welcome and appreciated.  

[Carl]

I feel pretty confident it's not a claw. It's lacking the overall shape and subtle details.

 

If it's an antler tine, it's quite wide, which would rule out a lot of cervids. Not sure what cervids were in the Carolinas that might have such antlers, maybe be moose or Cevalces. Might be too far south for a moose. Cervids made it to the Americas in the Pliocene, but most east coast US Cenozoic fossils are younger, so if this is a fossil and is a cervid antler fragment, I'd go with Pleistocene.