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Showing results for tags 'pliohippus'.
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Hello, I found some fossil teeth on a friends ranch in Eastern Oregon and was hoping for some help with ID. The area has been described as Mascall Formation (16 Ma) from the Miocene, however there aren't any detailed geologic maps of the region and I suspect some areas may be closer to the Pliocene. The teeth were found as float material from several places. I think #1 or #2 may be Merychippus or Pliohippus (horses) and #4 may be Equus (horse). #1-3 were all found in the same general area and I am fairly confident it is Mascall Fm (Miocene). However, #4 was found in another area and appears to be Equus. Since Equus is from the Pliocene, I am thinking it could be from the younger (Pliocene) Rattlesnake Fm or an undescribed strata. I am a little more unsure about #3 and think I could be a rhino or similar large mammal. Thank you for your help,
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Greetings, I have only been actively recovering fossils for the past 12 months. Fortunately, as a forensic science teacher, my work schedule allowed me to search approximately 200 days during this time. My interest in Equus is strong based on growing up on a horse farm. After finding my first Equus tooth in Venice, FL, I was hooked. I have been reading: textbooks, The Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences, and numerous FF members' galleries of photos. I have learned a lot during this journey. I want to share information I have received from Dr. Richard C. Hulbert Jr., Collections Manager, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. He is the expert on Equus, especially in Florida. Below are some of the responses that I received from him that are "for the good of the cause." From Dr. Hulbert "In each jaw of Equus there are three incisors at the very front, behind them maybe a canine tooth if from a male stallion (most mares lack a canine tooth, if present it is very small and functionless); then separated by a long gap are the six primary chewing teeth. Of these the front three are called premolars, as there are two sets of them through the animal’s lifetime, a set of deciduous premolars that are in use for the first 2-3 years of life, and second set of “permanent” premolars that erupt and come into use as the deciduous premolars are lost. Finally behind the premolars are three molars, the first molar that erupts about 1 year after birth, the second molar that erupts at about age 2, and the third molar that erupts at age 3 to 4. Older members of the horse family, such as Pliohippus and Merychippus, had four premolars instead of three. Examination of the fossil record of horses shows that it is the first of these four premolars that became increasingly smaller and was eventually lost. In order to make comparisons to equivalent teeth among all members of the horse family (and to other mammals), we refer to the premolars in an Equus jaw as the second, third, and fourth premolars. I can tell your specimen is a partial second premolar because the end comes to point when observed in occlusal view. In all of the other five premolars and molars, the front side of the tooth is flat or straight." (see tooth image below with unusual island feature) "I have attached what I think is the correct orientation for this specimen. The formation of the island (what we fossil horse specialists would call a fossettid) is unusual. It is caused by a connection between the metaconid and the protolophid. Just an odd individual variation, not of significance for species level identification. It is seen in Equus more often in deciduous second lower premolars than the permanent ones. But the crown height of your specimen is too great for it to be a deciduous tooth." It isn't often that I find an Equus tooth and can identify it without look at a ID guide. I put much effort to ID everything before submitting an ID request. It is harder when there is an unusual feature on the specimen. I want to give a shout out to @Shellseeker@Harry Pristis for their contributions to identifications and image galleries. Special thanks to Dr. Hulbert for his contributions to Florida Fossil Vertebrate studies. -Regards, Michael
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This tooth for sale caught my eye and was hoping someone could help ID it. It was purportedly found in Miocene deposits of Arizona and I _think_ it's a late wear stage cheek tooth of Pliohippus sp. I do not have measurements at this time. Thanks for the help!