TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 My cousin and I found this years ago while walking an old creek bed on his grandmas farm land. We were told it was a mammoth bison skull from the ice age. We know nothing about fossils and honestly can’t even decide if it is a fossil. It’s over 31” from horn tip to horn tip and pretty dang heavy. Can anyone give us some sort of information on this? Thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalodoodle Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Mammoth Bison? Is that a thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Bison Antiquus. The website below talks about a 31 inch horn spread. https://boneclones.com/product/bison-antiquus-skull-BC-313 1 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Is this fairly common? Or a rare kind of find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I am curious how one differentiates Bison bison from bison antiquus from a limited piece like this? What are the distinguishing features that you see? The info I have found online after a quick search is not very helpful. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 I live in South Dakota and the mass of this skull is far larger than any normal bison skull I’ve seen. Pictures don’t do it justice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Here is a site... mostly SIZE - Bison bison is much smaller than bison antiquus https://allaboutbison.com/ancient-bison/ However, the above site indicates Quote B. antiquus was taller, had larger bones and horns, and was 15-25% larger overall than modern bison. It reached up to 2.27 m tall, 4.6 m long, and a weight of 1,588 kg. From tip to tip, the horns of B. antiquus measured about 3 ft (nearly 1 m). 3 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PODIGGER Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Don't know what a mammoth bison could be. Follow Shellseeker's link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Got it, yes, I’ve read about the size difference but was just hoping there might be something else since there is a ton of overlap in size ranges of the various species. I’m not doubting it could be one of the older forms, I was just looking to learn a bit more. Luckily, this would be on the very large size for the modern form so that is less likely. 33 minutes ago, TJTCSC said: s this fairly common? Or a rare kind of find? I’m not sure about your area specifically, but I know bison are one of, if not the most, common ice age megafauna found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 57 minutes ago, T. nepaeolicus said: Mammoth Bison? Is that a thing? No. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Mammoth could be an odd way of saying the age of the piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Welcome to TFF from Austin, Tx. That's a very nice find! I'm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Is using the term “mammoth” for really big that uncommon? I thought everyone said that!? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 I guess mammoth is what I thought when I seen this picture (after I was told it was mammoth bison) http://www.sculptedstone.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=arc.sh_item&prod_id=3094 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 For comparison: 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 3 hours ago, ClearLake said: Is using the term “mammoth” for really big that uncommon? I thought everyone said that!? Everything is "mammoth" in Texas ? Na. That's not it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 14 hours ago, TJTCSC said: Is this fairly common? Or a rare kind of find? I believe that is a candidate based on Harry Pristis table of average size. Anything that has survived the last 10000 years is rare. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creek - Don Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 12 hours ago, TJTCSC said: Is this fairly common? Or a rare kind of find? Yes. it is a rare finding skulls with horns. Usually skulls and horns breaks apart when buried or when exposed to the flowing water. You would only find bits and pieces of bone fragments in the ceeks and rivers. I have yet to find skull or horn since I have been fossil hunting. Found plenty of other bison bones like vertebra and leg bones which seems to preserve better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I will say that this is the first time we have seen the term mammoth used as an adjective here. It is common in English, but not so much here where mammoth is an extinct elephant. Nice find, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facehugger Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Awesome find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 It's a great find! I think many people on this forum would be thrilled to make a find like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Thanks for all the help everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalodoodle Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Just to clear things up: mammoth is being used as an adjective (as in big or large) in this case, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJTCSC Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 56 minutes ago, T. nepaeolicus said: Just to clear things up: mammoth is being used as an adjective (as in big or large) in this case, right? No. The website I posted called it a mammoth steppe bison That’s why I called it that. Seems I shouldn’t have said that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 10 hours ago, TJTCSC said: No. The website I posted called it a mammoth steppe bison That’s why I called it that. Seems I shouldn’t have said that “Mammoth steppe” was an ancient grassland ecosystem, therefore a mammoth steppe bison would be a bison living in that ecosystem. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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