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I have here a polar bear tooth from St. Lawrence, Alaska. I was told it was fossilized, Pleistocene to be precise. The seller had other similar teeth available on offer, in darker shades, claiming they were all fossilized and simply preserved in different ways. Ultimately, I chose this one. As far as the literature goes, it has been argued that the polar bear does go back to the late Pleistocene: Ingólfsson, Ólafur; Wiig, Øystein (2009). "Late Pleistocene fossil find in Svalbard: the oldest remains of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1744) ever discovered". Polar Research. 28 (3). doi:10.3402/polar.v28i3.6131 I know coloration is not the ideal determination of fossilization, and yet I also read that the burn test wouldn't work on a tooth. Is there, then, any way to confirm if this is fossilized?

Hi everyone, I recently came across online Alaskan fossils. Specifically they are a Polar Bear and Walrus tooth from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. There doesn't seem to be much of a consensus on the age ranges for those teeth, and having those would be useful to me. According to a geological map, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, is Quaternary at its earliest: https://alaska.usgs.gov/science/geology/state_map/interactive_map/AKgeologic_map.html. That already puts me at a range of 2.6 million - 11,000 years, pretty wide. Initial research suggests polar bears evolved maybe 150,000 years ago, and their oldest fossils are around 120,000. I have no idea on the walrus yet. Does this mean, though, that my polar bear tooth is between 11,000 and 120,000 years old, or could it be narrowed down further? I'd love some insight from those who have knowledge of these aspects of paleontology. I would appreciate age ranged on the polar bear and walrus fossils found on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Thank you, Bellamy

I have here a tooth that a merchant claims to be a fossilized polar bear tooth, found on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. To me, it looks like it could be sea lion. Any idea? \ Then again, here's a (replica) grizzly bear tooth that looks similar to me, too: