fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Are these teeth or tusks? Both are 4" long, 1 is 1 1/2" wide and the other is 1 3/4" wide. Some expert advice would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Can you show a proximal end view (the big end head on) and provide general locality/formation info (no need to give away the site - just general info to help us rule out a few things). Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 These came from a box of fossils that a friend gave me. He says he wasn't sure where he found them, but I know he usually collects in the badlands of Alberta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bowen Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Just off the top of my head, I'm going to suggest they are tusks. Ivory fractures very randomly like chalk. Technically they are teeth, but they don't serve the purpose of chewing, grinding, or tearing like typical teeth. Also, I have used fossil and modern ivory on knife handles, and it looks very much like the ivory I use. Some fossil ivory is darker, however. Tusks are generally rounded at the ends like these, and being very round circumfrence-wise, indicates they served no purpose such as tearing, grinding, or chewing. My vote is Tusk. Dave Bowen Collin County, Texas. Paleontology: The next best thing to time travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 If you look at the very tip of the tusk it looks to be ground down where another incisor slid past.Like a hippo with an on board sharpener! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 These came from a box of fossils that a friend gave me. He says he wasn't sure where he found them, but I know he usually collects in the badlands of Alberta. Interesting size...could you take pics of the ends again individually? Thanks. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 Here you are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 It's hard to tell much from the pics, Fig. The camera is having difficulty focusing on the detail. Most ivory has a recognizable pattern...ID is missing with the detail.... The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I'd go with tusks - looks like Schreger patterns in the cross sectional views (cross hatched grain similar to proboscidean tusks). Not sure if other critters exhibit this grain structure. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Dan, are you referring to the unfocused small patch of pattern on the far right pic? The pattern seems too isolated, but that one looks the most like ivory to me. It's awlful small. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Reminds me of a small Gomphothere tusk... "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...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 It's hard to tell much from the pics, Fig. The camera is having difficulty focusing on the detail. Most ivory has a recognizable pattern...ID is missing with the detail....I stopped being lazy and took out my light box. Try this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Reminds me of a small Gomphothere tusk... Thanks, that is much better. It appears to be ivory...maybe Harry, Nate, or another vert collector can weigh-in on this one. Auspex may be right.... The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Thanks, that is much better. It appears to be ivory...maybe Harry, Nate, or another vert collector can weigh-in on this one. Auspex may be right.... Tusks ARE teeth, though not all teeth are tusks. What is the distinction you are trying to make with these teeth from god-only-knows-what animals? The badlands of Alberta? Age of these badlands? I thought that was Dinosaur country. ?? 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...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 Tusks ARE teeth, though not all teeth are tusks. What is the distinction you are trying to make with these teeth from god-only-knows-what animals? The badlands of Alberta? Age of these badlands? I thought that was Dinosaur country. ?? I'm trying to find out what these fossils are and what animal they belong to! I don't know the age of the badlands or even if they come from there. If you would have read the thread you would know that they came from a box in my friends basement and he happens to collect out there! They could be from ebay for all that I know. And yes the badlands is dinosaur country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 "Badlands" might not mean Alberta badlands; I recall another "badlands" item you posted for ID that was IDed as an Oligocene mammal, no doubt from another badlands. This seems to be the case here, as I don't think that these teeth/tusks are dino. "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...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 They appear VERY similar to chilotherium tusks. I can't remember the name, but chilotherium did have a relative here in North America. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Okay, I'm willing to put money on it (not really). Here's a pic of chilotherium tusks. Round on the outside edge, sharp on the inside. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Possibly Menoceras barbouri???? Not sure if the location is right...If they are chalky on the inside I'd suggest they actually came from China and are therefore chilotherium. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Better pic of the sharp edge and a pic of another chilotherium. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 Okay, I'm willing to put money on it (not really). Here's a pic of chilotherium tusks. Round on the outside edge, sharp on the inside. Nick Nick, I concur with you on the flat one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 The round one may be the same thing. They tend to fatten out and get round at the base. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fig rocks Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 The round one may be the same thing. They tend to fatten out and get round at the base.Nick It's round most of the way up and has a little smaller base, would it be from a smaller or younger animal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Not sure. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I'm trying to find out what these fossils are and what animal they belong to! I don't know the age of the badlands or even if they come from there. If you would have read the thread you would know that they came from a box in my friends basement and he happens to collect out there! They could be from ebay for all that I know. And yes the badlands is dinosaur country! fig rocks Are these teeth or tusks? Both are 4" long, 1 is 1 1/2" wide and the other is 1 3/4" wide. Some expert advice would be greatly appreciated! Silly me! I thought you asked if your fossils were teeth or tusks! They are teeth. The "tusk" in rhinos is actually a modified second incisor. The canines are lost. But, rather than conclude that they are rhino teeth, let's review what we think we know. We know they are mammal teeth. We presume they are large land-mammal teeth. They could be from China or Alberta or from the Dakotas badlands. They are most likely from the later Eocene or the Oligocene or the Miocene. all times of large mammals with exposures in Northcentral North America (and China). The teeth don't appear to be from Menoceras, the smallish, cursorial rhino from the Oligocene and Early Miocene. There are quite a few possibilities, if the teeth are indeed from a rhino or rhino-like animal. You can compare your teeth with these, but I think you'll have to look farther than this to identify what you have. 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...
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