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Mammoth Age


32fordboy

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Okay, I'm tired of trying to find out how to do this. I found the following quote on http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2008CD/finalprog...ract_135678.htm

"By measuring the length and width of a particular tooth and plotting their measurements on a graph, students determine which of the six molars they have in front of them: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, or M6. They then use another graph to determine the approximate age of the animal that died when their tooth was deposited in the fossil record."

Does any body here know how to do this or where I can obtain these graphs? Attached is a picture of the tooth in question, which I assume is an upper tooth. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be hard to guess age from an upper tooth.

Nick

post-741-1236820461_thumb.jpg

post-741-1236820482_thumb.jpg

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Okay, I'm tired of trying to find out how to do this. I found the following quote on http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2008CD/finalprog...ract_135678.htm

"By measuring the length and width of a particular tooth and plotting their measurements on a graph, students determine which of the six molars they have in front of them: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, or M6. They then use another graph to determine the approximate age of the animal that died when their tooth was deposited in the fossil record."

Does any body here know how to do this or where I can obtain these graphs? Attached is a picture of the tooth in question, which I assume is an upper tooth. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be hard to guess age from an upper tooth.

Nick

I don't know of such a graph for mammoth teeth, but maybe an Internet search will turn it up. Here's one from an archeology book that deals with equid horses.

post-42-1236824227_thumb.jpg

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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That's really a neat drawing. It's too bad info like this isn't more readily available on the net. There should be a section on the forum devoted to drawings like that. It would help a lot of people ID things too. Maybe it could be divided up into organized categories so it's not all messed up and hard to go through. That would be a neat system and VERY helpful to all of us.

I just went back through my records and found out somebody already determined this tooth was an upper M3 molar. That will help me determine age. Went through a proboscidea book which has an age chart. It says the M2 falls out at about 6 years and the M3 falls out at about 13-15 years. So we can assume the animal was about 6-15 years old. That's a pretty big range.

If anybody has info on the graphs or methods for determining age or how to tell what set the tooth is from (though this has already been established for this particular tooth), don't be afraid to chime in.

Nick

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