Mammal tooth!

[Life Finds A Way]

Hi all! Here's a tooth find from Monmouth, NJ. It's clearly a mammal of some kind, possibly cenozoic, but does anyone know what kind? Thanks!

 

[Harry Pristis]

It's a horse tooth, probably a lower, from a horse of advanced age (an indicator of domesticity).

[Life Finds A Way]

Is it modern or older? Definitely agree it's from an old creature since it's so worn on the top enamel.

[Life Finds A Way]

Here's the other side

[Life Finds A Way]

Is this a three toed horse? Found this image on fossil forum

[digit]

Looks like one of Harry's images.

 

If you notice the width given for the larger Equus tooth (1.2 inches) and see that a pair of the tiny 3-toed horse teeth take up as much size, you'll get an idea that the size of horses (and their teeth) have grown over time. Your tooth looks large for the 3-toed horse teeth that I've come across.

 

Additionally, Harry's point that this was from a old horse (as in advanced age not time period) might indicate that it was a domestic animal and not a wild horse which would indicate that it may be relatively modern. Horses have an interesting history in that they originated in North America from tiny forest dwelling animals (with multiple toes) to the galloping giants of the great plains which found just one toe (hoof) necessary for locomotion. They spread across the land bridge to Asia and then onto Africa and Europe where they diversified along the way into such great stripy forms as the zebras and other species. It was on those continents where they were domesticated and made into beasts of burden and transportation. They completed the final leg of their around the world journey with the early explorers who returned them to North America. The global cooling event at the end of the Pleistocene (~12,000 years ago) saw the extinction of a lot of megafauna (mammoths, camels, saber-tooth cats, giant ground sloths, etc.) and as I understand it the last of the horses in North America died out around 7,600 years ago so there is at least a 7 millennium gap with no horse fossils before their return to the New World aboard sailing ships along gold-hungry Spaniards.

 

Because North America was previously home to the genus Equus it makes finding isolated horse teeth a bit more confusing when we find them here in North America. When you find a mammoth tooth in the Peace River you can pretty well be certain it is a fossil. But because there are lots of modern horses in Florida, you cannot always be so certain at the first glance. It is possible for relatively younger horse teeth to look similar to well preserved ancient teeth. One test that is often mentioned on this forum to distinguish older (permineralized) teeth from more modern look-alikes is the flame test. In older teeth the collagen protein is broken down and replaced with minerals fossilizing the tooth. In more modern teeth the collagen is still there and can be detected by a rather disgusting smell of "burning hair" if a flame is applied to a portion of the item in question for a brief time. While there may be fossils that are thousands of years old preserved in special circumstances (buried in icy permafrost or preserved in exceedingly dry caves) where the protein is preserved in very old "fossilized" items, for the most part the flame test is useful for the kinds of items we tend to come across.

 

You might hold a lighter to part of this tooth for a second or two and see if you can detect the smell of burning protein. That would indicate that this item is likely more modern than 7000+ years ago. It could still be a couple hundred years old or it could have washed in from a river or creek from a relatively recent animal. In what sort of environment was this this tooth found?

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Harry Pristis]

My point, LFaW, is that domestication of horses in North America is a modern phenomenon.  Domesticated horses, in peace times, tend to live longer than wild horses.

 

 

[Life Finds A Way]

9 hours ago, digit said:

Looks like one of Harry's images.

 

In what sort of environment was this this tooth was this found?

 

Thank you for your awesome message and incredible explanation! To answer your questions/comments:

 

What's the image?

It is one of Harry's images!

 

Where was it found? 

I found it in a river in New Jersey and I wanted to get more opinions since this is common for Peace River/Florida but not as common here. Ive found other mammal bones before (see my prior posts) but this also seemed like some kind of ancient horse type creature to me. Which it is.

 

The only thing I'm unsure of is whether it is Equus or Hipparian/Three- Toed, since it is so worn down it looks like both. Tooth is about 1.5in x 1.5in.

[digit]

7 minutes ago, Life Finds A Way said:

Tooth is about 1.5in x 1.5in.

Which would be large for a 3-toed horse. Likely a worn down Equus but a flame test will hopefully reveal if it is relatively modern or more ancient.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Life Finds A Way]

Flame test says it's ancient! 

[Harry Pristis]

1 hour ago, Life Finds A Way said:

Flame test says it's ancient! 

 

A 'burn test' or 'match test' will indicate only whether there is collagen remaining in a bone -- scorched collagen has an awful smell. Briefly apply an open flame (I prefer a butane lighter) to an inconspicuous area of the object . . . you cannot keep a pin hot enough long enough to scorch collagen. Tooth enamel contains hydroxyapatite, but contains little collagen, so the 'burn test' on a tooth is not dispositive. 

[Spoons]

“Modern” or ancient, I think you may now be a proud owner of a pretty neat piece of history.

 

Congratulations.