huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353 
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Post by huskeric on Sept 1, 2016 13:33:12 GMT -5
(See what I did there?) I have been redoing my rock beds out in my yard this summer, and have found some really cool rocks. My 10-year-old found this one, and said, "oooh, Dad, look this is a bone!" While it was dirty, it looked a little like it could be a bone, but mostly just like an interesting rock. (it was really dirty and had mud caked into it) That was a month or more ago, and I hadn't seen it since. Well last night, he's showing my sister, and so I immediately started in, "Jake, I told you, that is not a... ohhhh, that IS a bone." Any thoughts on what kind of animal? It is fossilized, but based on its size, I would hazard a guess that it's a leg bone from like a deer or something. The bone fragment is just over 2" long for perspective.     |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 1, 2016 13:59:30 GMT -5
Judging by the photos of the end, I'd say tooth. Of - what? Maybe horse? Where did this come from? Was it somewhere else before relocating to your yard?
Cool find! Maybe you should listen to your kids more often, lol!
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on Sept 1, 2016 15:07:00 GMT -5
horse
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Sept 1, 2016 15:38:03 GMT -5
Ooooh, I totally see that now! I wondered what the heck kind of bone would have that secondary structure in the middle. That's just part of like a molar or something. If it's a tooth, I'm going with Tyrannosaurus Rex. They used their molars for grinding their vegetables. I'm talking about the vegan T-Rex, of course. This is Nebraska, where the heck would a horse tooth come from? rockpickerforever , it was just in with the landscaping rock, as far as I can recall. This was farmland prior to becoming a subdivision, so it may have been buried or in the fill dirt, but I think it came out with the rocks. They do scorched-earth building here, run everything down with graders and then develop on top, so that's why I wouldn't think it was originally here. 1Mark K, do you think it's even fossilized? It sure looks like it to me, but it also looks like a carnivorous dinosaur molar to me, so that's how much anyone should trust my expertise. |
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Mark K
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Posts: 2,816
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Post by Mark K on Sept 1, 2016 15:50:35 GMT -5
They rarely are here. They, and buff teeth are in the rivers. Lots of cow too. Years ago every cow and dead horse seems to have ended up in the rivers.
Now you see it,..........
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 1, 2016 16:14:26 GMT -5
Pretty sure it is a horse, can't say whether it is truly fossilized or not.
Nebraska was a veritable smorgasbord of mammals back in the Clarendonian Land Mammal Age link, late Cretaceous through the present. I think they just used to call it the Cenozoic. Now it has a new name, and then that is divided up into a bunch of ages. Throw this all out the window for anywhere other than North America, different continents use different time lines. Confused?
Ashfall Fossil Beds in Northeastern Nebraska. Horses, dogs, deer, camels, even one species of rhino.
Google images of fossilized horse teeth - link to images
You could probably take it to a nearby museum or university for (an educated) identification. Probably not something rare, but if it were, you'd want to hold onto it closely. mrrockpicker almost lost a nice Bison occidentalis tooth to a museum that way!  Yeah, still have it. The museum said it was better than the specimen they had! |
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Sept 1, 2016 16:57:59 GMT -5
Awesome information! (I wasn't ever not confused, for the record) I need to look into that Ashfall Fossil Bed some more. I remember seeing that on the news here locally at some point.
I did go and google "fossilized horse tooth" and it sure does look like a lot of those. It's my son's, so maybe I'll just put it back in his hands and see what he wants to do. He's a pretty sharp little boy, and I have no doubts he would be resourceful and persistent enough to find someone to carbon date it, try to get a DNA map and find the horse's family tree on Ancestry.com. Did I mention that he's persistent? (sigh)
If he got a tooth into a museum, he'd be pretty stoked, I think. Thanks for the reply!
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 1, 2016 17:06:14 GMT -5
How big is it ? It could be a fragment of a mammoth molar too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 18:37:31 GMT -5
I assume inyo will be able to add light. For me, an animal guy, I wonder of the horse diagnosis might in clude other similar taxa. Equine of any type, camel? Bovine?... Sorry, im devils advocate. |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 1, 2016 20:03:42 GMT -5
I suppose it could be an ass bone from an alien... Naw, probably not. (Sorry, the devil made me do it, lol. ) huskeric , knowing the size would be most helpful! |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 2, 2016 9:26:11 GMT -5
Horse tooth! Awesome find!
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Sept 2, 2016 16:12:25 GMT -5
I suppose it could be an ass bone from an alien... Naw, probably not. (Sorry, the devil made me do it, lol. ) huskeric , knowing the size would be most helpful! Well, if it IS an ass bone from an alien, I am thinking @garage Rocker will be able to help identify it. Not because he's an ass, because he's an alien. (He knows what I'm talking about...) The length of this tooth is almost dead-on 2" to the little outcrop, and is 1.25" at its widest point. At its highest, it is 7/8" Those measurements would all be within 1/32" |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 2, 2016 16:57:07 GMT -5
Allrightythen! Thanks for getting the size posted. After some research and careful consideration, I think what we have heeeeerrrre, is a Bison tooth. Likely from the Pleistocene (1.8 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago, according to WIKI). Think Ice Age. Funny, was not listed on the Ashfall site as having been found there. No matter, they could have lived elsewhere in the state.
I looked at photos of all the other possibilities - horses, camels, rhino - which were listed on the Ashfall Fossil Beds site, and determined that it was none of the above.
However, I have two fossil teeth from Bison occidentalis, one picked up with bare toes at the bottom of a cold river in North Dakota (I believe it was, I wasn't there), the other I picked up in Quartzsite for a few bucks. Took a few pics of them, will post as soon as I can get them up.
One of the distinguishing features of a bison tooth is the raised ridge down the center, called a "stylid." As far as I know (I could be wrong?) they are the only genus to have this, of the few possibilities listed. Mine both have it, and your's huskeric , also has it!
Let me get those pics up. Jean
ETA photos
This is the structure I'm talking about. Quartzsite tooth, outer surface. 
North Dakota tooth, outer surface. 
Grinding end
Root end of ND tooth
Another view of grinding end
Root end of Quartzsite tooth
Grinding end of Q tooth
Lingual (inside) surface of tooth.
So, what do you think? Match?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 21:25:28 GMT -5
Sold to the fat man with a bald head and a camo hat!
Bovine it is!! Lol
Buffalo burgers anyone??
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 3, 2016 6:27:01 GMT -5
In Florida they usually turn black from apatite permineralization(spelling). But often are still off-white in fossil form. Looks horse to me. But there was a wide range of mammals back in those days that had grazing teeth. Horse teeth usually at least 2-3 times longer than their width. I stopped at a dump truck load of fossil gravel In Florida once and found a pile of horse teeth in it. Had to wonder how common horses were back then. Cherished finding, congrats on yours.  |
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jamesp
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Posts: 36,600
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Post by jamesp on Sept 3, 2016 6:38:02 GMT -5
"There are many other ancient horses, from Florida, and they include, but are not limited to: Merychippus, Neohipparion, Pseudhipparion, Hipparion, Nannippus, Cormohipparion, Pliohippus, Astrohippus, Dinohippus, Parahippus, Archaeohippus and Equus." Some very small  Some same as modern horse  The dude in the image is me. |
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 3, 2016 6:43:21 GMT -5
"There are many other ancient horses, from Florida, and they include, but are not limited to: Merychippus, Neohipparion, Pseudhipparion, Hipparion, Nannippus, Cormohipparion, Pliohippus, Astrohippus, Dinohippus, Parahippus, Archaeohippus and Equus." Some very small Some same as modern horse The dude in the image is me. Good thing those tiny ones went extinct or we wouldn't have this:
Which we need. And for the love of god, put some clothes on next time you're on a diagram.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,600
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Post by jamesp on Sept 3, 2016 6:49:38 GMT -5
"There are many other ancient horses, from Florida, and they include, but are not limited to: Merychippus, Neohipparion, Pseudhipparion, Hipparion, Nannippus, Cormohipparion, Pliohippus, Astrohippus, Dinohippus, Parahippus, Archaeohippus and Equus." Some very small Some same as modern horse The dude in the image is me. Good thing those tiny ones went extinct or we wouldn't have this:
Which we need. And for the love of god, put some clothes on next time you're on a diagram.
LMAO, that monkey is going to have 'shaken head syndrome'. Perfect sound track lol. It took a lot of white out to remove dangling portion. |
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 3, 2016 9:44:19 GMT -5
Hey,I threw a few teeth in the tumbler a few years back,man do they tumble great-the shine is just incredible!!!
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Post by Garage Rocker on Sept 3, 2016 10:30:59 GMT -5
Great find Jake! Way to stumble into it huskeric! |
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Yeah, still have it. The museum said it was better than the specimen they had!
