Fossil tooth

[Klaus_Grizwold]

Found this interesting tooth yesterday. I cannot identify it with anything contemporary that lives here in North Dakota. My suspicion is it is very old and from something exotic. Found along a Lake Agassiz beach ridge in Eastern North Dakota. The vertical ridges are what I cannot decide on where to place this tooth. Thank you.

[C2fossils]

Maybe unerupted peccary tusk? @Harry Pristis@Shellseeker@johnnyvaldez7.jv@garyc@PrehistoricFlorida@JaybotAnd anyone else I forgot to pin, maybe you all know more and can help out?

[Jaybot]

It does look interesting.  Can we please get some photos with different angles, and some showing the bottom?  These will help aid the id.  Thank you

[Klaus_Grizwold]

@Jaybot

Here are some more pictures. The bottom of it is pressed full of clay/sand.

[Klaus_Grizwold]

I posted earlier today a tooth I found this week. Found in glacial sand, but also within the area of the Western interior seaway of North Dakota. Could this be mosasaur or crocodile? I appreciate your thoughts. And sorry I am of no help for your items.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

6 hours ago, Klaus_Grizwold said:

I posted earlier today a tooth I found this week. Found in glacial sand, but also within the area of the Western interior seaway of North Dakota. Could this be mosasaur or crocodile? I appreciate your thoughts. And sorry I am of no help for your items.

 

I looked up your other post and will reply there in order to minimize cross-posting:

 

 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

 

In another thread, you wondered as to whether this could be a mosasaur or crocodile tooth - which, unfortunately, is a difficult question to answer, as a lot depends on context.

6 hours ago, Klaus_Grizwold said:

I posted earlier today a tooth I found this week. Found in glacial sand, but also within the area of the Western interior seaway of North Dakota. Could this be mosasaur or crocodile? I appreciate your thoughts.

 

At first glance, I'd say that the general shape of the tooth would be consistent with marine reptile, though I'd be quick to add that the style of conservation is unlike any I've seen before for mosasaur. Also, I'm unaware of any mosasaur species that has such clear and heavy facetting on the lingual side of the tooth, but no facetting or prismatism on the labial. The closest thing I could come up with is a Moroccan prognathodontid. Those, however, have both anastomosing enamel and a (sub)equal ovoid cross-section. This tooth looks much too modern as well, though, so my verdict would be "not a mosasaur".

 

I briefly considered theropod, since the tooth appears rather rolled, which could have worn away the serrations on the carinae, and the first two photographs give off the impression of the tooth being rather laterally compressed. Faceting in theropod teeth is rare, though does occur in certain families and species, such as spinosaurids and Paronychodon sp.. For those as I've mentioned, however, the tooth shape doesn't match. So my verdict would be "not a theropod".

 

Crocodilians have a long history on earth, though, meaning a more modern looking preservational style could indicate it's a more modern type of tooth and still form a match for crocodile. Crocodilian teeth are hugely varied and can have facetting on one side of the tooth and no ornamentation on the other - even if this is not overly common. Speaking cross-sectionally, certain crocodile teeth could, indeed, have an unequal cross-section, although they'd rarely have a labial side that is as flat as the one seen in your tooth. Enamel banding, as seen in this tooth, is a feature encountered on crocodile teeth, however. So I wouldn't be entirely surprised if this turned out to be some kind of crocodile tooth. At the same time, since the tooth curves distally, rather than medially, I'd also not expect this to be crocodile either.

 

Whatever this is, it's an interesting tooth. However, I have no idea what it may be...

[Fossildude19]

TOPICS MERGED> ONE IS ENOUGH.

[Klaus_Grizwold]

@pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

I very much appreciate your thorough response. Here is something else that might add to this tooth. As you said it has many characteristics of a crocodile tooth, but also the conservation is interesting. This tooth was found along a river not far from known native American burial mounds. There is a possibility that this is a more modern crocodile tooth that was traded from the gulf coast. This tooth does seem to have a slight bit of blue tinting that is common on bison teeth I find in the same stream, my picture washed some of that out because I have a blue background. Please see attached picture of blue bison tooth. I believe the color is caused by vivianite. Let me know your thoughts. I appreciate your insights. 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Sorry, I'm unfortunately unable to help you there, as my speciality lies with marine reptiles of the mesozoic... But I'm sure someone here (maybe @Harry Pristis) would be able to tell you more.

[Jaybot]

That one side with no enamel is throwing me off... 

[garyc]

7 hours ago, Klaus_Grizwold said:

@pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

I very much appreciate your thorough response. Here is something else that might add to this tooth. As you said it has many characteristics of a crocodile tooth, but also the conservation is interesting. This tooth was found along a river not far from known native American burial mounds. There is a possibility that this is a more modern crocodile tooth that was traded from the gulf coast. This tooth does seem to have a slight bit of blue tinting that is common on bison teeth I find in the same stream, my picture washed some of that out because I have a blue background. Please see attached picture of blue bison tooth. I believe the color is caused by vivianite. Let me know your thoughts. I appreciate your insights. 

This one is a Bos/bison molar fragment, but pics of the occlusal surface would help confirm that