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Recently I found a diagnostic tool that has been helpful to me. Being new at and unsure of myself during ID, I figure on using all of the help I can get. Nothing beats hands on for me. While searching a fossil site a few months ago I found a skull from a common adult bovine. All of the upper jaw teeth were there with typical adult wear. There were no lower jaw bones. I tossed it in the back of the truck. I figured to paint it and hang it on the wall or something. Recently I've found myself using ole bossy to compare and ID teeth I've collected through the years. I've picked up bison teeth and thought they belonged to bossy and of course the more common, I've picked up old cow teeth thinking they might be from a bison. I get a little confused in the field and not wanting to pick up teeth from a common moo cow I've been known to throw them back. With that method I am now certain that I've left some bison material behind. Teeth with a lot of mineralization are such a problem, it's the ones that show some age with little or no mineralization that I tend to have trouble with. There are a lot of cattle living now, just think how many there must have been since the Spaniards brought them here in the 1500's. We all find a lot of teeth that once belonged to barnyard bovines during our hunts. There were many more...really countless multitudes of bison. As recently as 160 years ago there were still a few in the wild around in North Tx. There must still be a lot of teeth to find out there. Having ole bossy sure helps me when it comes to ID. Before long I suspect I'll have gained enough experience to know the difference on my own in most cases. If unsure I can always refer back to ole bossy. Until I find my very own bison noggin she'll have to do. Yesterday while hunting for fossils I picked up a rt lower jaw belonging to an adult bovine with all of the jaw teeth intact with typical wear. Fits the skull very closely. Guess I'll have to mosey on over, empty out that jar of teeth and compare the new jaw teeth with I have in there. It's progress.