New Members drehart Posted July 1, 2011 New Members Share Posted July 1, 2011 I found a large tooth recently in a creek here in Mariposa it's approx 4" x 6" and is made of sedimentary rock. Can someone please identify, it looks like a Megladon tooth but not exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilselachian Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I found a large tooth recently in a creek here in Mariposa it's approx 4" x 6" and is made of sedimentary rock. Can someone please identify, it looks like a Megladon tooth but not exactly. To me, it looks like a triangular shaped rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 ...and is made of sedimentary rock... It is a piece of sedimentary rock; sorry, no tooth. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members drehart Posted July 1, 2011 Author New Members Share Posted July 1, 2011 Here's two more photos...it has all the characteristics of a tooth from every angle, which is why I don't think it's just a rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 It has a somewhat tooth-like shape, but none of the characteristics of a tooth. No enamel, no dentin, no cementum, and you can see the layers of the sediment. You don't have to take our word for it, you can take it to a museum or a university that has a geology or paleo department, if that would satisfy you. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDOTB Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Yep, sorry, its just a rock. If it was a worn meg tooth, it would look more like... Brachiomyback's post on a topic in another section, here is the link: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/22130-huge-megs-maybe-7/. (Just click on the link and look for Homer Simpson) Now, a worn tooth can be many colors, I have seen white ones, brown ones, black ones, gray ones, tan ones ect. But they all have pretty much the same look to them. Also, is there any formation present where you were looking, is there any other fossils that you have found in the same location? Other shark teeth, bones, shells, fish fossils ect? Edited July 1, 2011 by MikeDOTB DO, or do not. There is no try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members drehart Posted July 2, 2011 Author New Members Share Posted July 2, 2011 Actually I was near Lake McClure looking for gold not fossils, I picked it up because it looked so much like a tooth but wasn't sure. I looked at a few dozen Megaladon teeth and it has the same characteristics, the V at the top that would be above the gum line, it's the right thickness, though it's tapered back while the magaladon I've seen do not have the taper, and If you hold it up to a Megaladon tooth it's really close to ther same shape. I'll take your word that it's just a rock but it really looks like a tooth. Also, from college I remember learning that sedimentary rock is where you find animals that have died and sunk to the bottom and been covered over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 ...from college I remember learning that sedimentary rock is where you find animals that have died and sunk to the bottom and been covered over. This is true, but the animals do not become sedimentary rock. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 if you just go by the external outline or shape of stuff you see, then you'll end up taking a lot of stuff home that isn't what you think it is. you can see the layering in this sedimentary rock. you have to "zoom in" with your eye and mind on each little piece of the puzzle, and when something isn't right, it isn't right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members drehart Posted July 2, 2011 Author New Members Share Posted July 2, 2011 What I learned is that the actual material they're made of has been gone for a long time and replaced by the minerals in the material around them...am I mistaken? Apologies but I'm an Accountant not a geologist or Paleontologist, so if I sound like an idiot when it comes to the sunject then let's discuss Accounting instead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 the term for a complete replacement is pseudomorphing. and that does happen sometimes with fossils, or even just with minerals replacing minerals, but teeth start out with a very high mineral content and are relatively dense, so the "fossilization" usually ends up being more of a partial transformation, or at a minimum a good retention of certain features. and pseudomorphing doesn't occur as a layered sediment just like it would be laid down unhindered. it is certainly ok to be new to studying this stuff, because everyone must be at that place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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