Harry Pristis Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Okay, what is this? It's from Florida, but these animals don't live here any more. You can find their fossils world-wide pretty much, though they originated here in North America. Darn! I'm giving it away! -----Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaman65 Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 is it....a rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I fold. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 Well, someone must know. There's a golden kudo for whoever can identify this not-a-rock! How 'bout you, Bukshia? Moropus, our newest member, may know. Moropus, the Chalicothere, is one of Florida's rarest fossil animals. The mystery object in the image is not nearly that hard to find. Don't give up. -------Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Well you said tooth like so that makes me think its some sort of blunt tusk it appears to have enamel and a root like a tusk or a tooth but I think you would have just said tooth if it were a tooth. But I have no idea from what animal its from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 Well you said tooth like so that makes me think its some sort of blunt tusk it appears to have enamel and a root like a tusk or a tooth but I think you would have just said tooth if it were a tooth. But I have no idea from what animal its from. Good deductions all, Anson. . . . except for the last one. If it has enamel like a tooth, and it has a root like a tooth, it probably is a tooth -- as you deduced. In this case, "toothlike" is just a hook to get the attention of readers. At any rate, this is a very unusual tooth, and such teeth have a very unusual morphological origin. It is not a canine tooth in the normal mammalian pattern. You can think of it as an unusual adaptation in an otherwise conservative taxon. Gosh! I'm giving it away again. I don't want you to think that this is a rare, one-of-a-kind deformity. These teeth are out there to be found. Here's another one from my collection. -------Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 well with all the clues we have now you would think someone would know. I have no clue I am still new into this and have limited mental abilities these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share Posted October 6, 2007 well with all the clues we have now you would think someone would know. I have no clue I am still new into this and have limited mental abilities these days. Well, okay. There've been 54 views, and no one has even made a guess. No golden kudo this time. Maybe these teeth are less common than I imagined. They are the upper tusks of rhinos, probably Teleoceras proterum. They are not canine teeth. The upper tusks of rhinos are adapted first incisors (think about your upper "front teeth"). These upper tusks seem to be the whetstones for the razor-sharp lower tusks. The lower tusks are not canine teeth either; the lower tusks are adapted second incisors (think the tooth between your front tooth and your "eye tooth"). Here's what Richard Hulbert (Ed.) says on pp. 300 of The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida: "The so-called 'tusks' (if present) are composed of an enlarged I1 and i2, while all the other anterior teeth are either lost or reduced." The upper tusks of the Early Miocene cursorial rhino, Menoceras, are simply miniature versions of the tusks pictured above. -------Harry Pristis 2 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomclark Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Sweet. Never seen one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Thanks again for the tutelage, Harry. I doubt I'll run into rhino material in TX any time soon due to sparse Miocene and Pliocene exposures here, but at least I'll know what I'm looking at if I bump into it. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Very cool stuff Harry!! :Thumbs-up: It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 I shoulda known that. Nice one Harry. :Thumbs-up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORFOLK BOY Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Hi Harry, Darn it I was dying to get on the forum but had problems getting on after forum changes with my password was lost. missed my Kudos! I have a couple of bones from Stephanorhinos along with a molar and guessed it must have been a horn stub, never mind may be next time! :Thumbs-up: Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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