Fiwi Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I found a gentleman at the Coastal & Environmental Geology Program in Maryland to look at my tooth. He believes it to be a porpoise tooth. He added: From its location in Leeds Creek, the tooth could be relatively young (e.g., Pleistocene Kent Island Formation), but, as you already noted, it is quite worn. Therefore, it could have been eroded further up Leeds Creek or even the Miles River and redeposited downstream, with the tumbling along the streambed wearing down (rounding off) the tooth – all of which suggests an older age. Inasmuch as you say you found it on the beach, this tooth could have be transported quite some distance by storms, tides, etc. In that case, the tooth could be considerably older (e.g., Tertiary, possibly Miocene, which spans from 5 to 23 million years ago). Miocene-age sediments, in particular, in the Coastal Plain have been prolific source of fossil teeth from porpoises, whales, and sharks, but those beds are almost entirely in the subsurface in Talbot County. It is entirely possible that this tooth has traveled some distance along the shoreline of the Chesapeake and its tributaries on the Eastern Shore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 That could be too,yes. " We're all puppets, I'm just a puppet who can see the strings. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Looks Canis sp. to me. Doesn't show any traits of porpoise. www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiwi Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 Looks Canis sp. to me. Doesn't show any traits of porpoise. I don't know, he's the expert, not me. He did show me some other pics of porpoise teeth that look just like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiwi Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Just had the opportunity to show the tooth to a curator at the Smithsonian. He didn't hesitate a moment before saying "Porpoise tooth, Miocene Epoch". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) Very cool... Glad you found the ID for your tooth. I would have said bear or something like that? Some of these are Porpoise teeth ? Edited October 29, 2009 by worthy 55 It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiwi Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Very cool... Glad you found the ID for your tooth. I would have said bear or something like that? Some of these are Porpoise teeth ? Those are cool! I thought bear at first, or maybe wolf. When I asked the curator how he can rule out bear or wolf, he first pointed out that it's not round enough. In addition, he said the tooth is too old to be a bear or wolf. It is fossilized at the root. He said the entire tooth was probably fossilized at one time, but after been beat around at the surface for some time the surface wears off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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