Croatia Tooth?

[agos200]

Hi everyone, just joined to try to ID this little find I've had for about 25 years now. I have no knowledge about fossils of any kind, a friend suggested this may be one and showed me this page so I thought why not ask experts. This was found along river Kupa in Sisak, Croatia, during one very hot dry summer that caused significant water levels drop.

It measures 4 cm wide, 5.5cm long and 1.6cm thick

 

 

[Notidanodon]

if you tap it on a hard surface, what does it sound like, it might be modern

[fossilus]

Looks bovine, at least that's what I would say if it were found in the states.

[agos200]

28 minutes ago, will stevenson said:

if you tap it on a hard surface, what does it sound like, it might be modern

It sounds like what a ceramic/porcelain or smooth polished stone would sound. The weight feels heavier than what I would imagine a tooth or bone would weigh.

 

[agos200]

This is a post my friend showed me, that made me think it's something similar
 

 

[Notidanodon]

26 minutes ago, agos200 said:

It sounds like what a ceramic/porcelain or smooth polished stone would sound. The weight feels heavier than what I would imagine a tooth or bone would weigh.

 

should be some sort of bovid fossil then

[Harry Pristis]

It's a bovid -- probably cow -- lower right m3.

 

 

[agos200]

15 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

It's a bovid -- probably cow -- lower right m3.

 

 

Thank you for replying. What feature of it makes you say it's probably cow (and not bison)? I've looked at a few other posts where this is discussed and it's noted that bison m3 is quite a bit bigger than cow's. This piece is about 4cm wide and 5.5cm long. Would the size typically help ID?

I know there's also a little part called stylid, that seems to be important too? and I realize my photos aren't showing it well. I'll try to take a clearer photo of it.

If it's cow's, judging by the looks, could you guess its age? Thanks again

[Harry Pristis]

It has an isolated stylid indicating bovid.

It has damage that looks more recent than ancient -- just an impression based on experience.  If recent, then cow.

The m3 is the last permanent tooth to emerge, and the last cusp has no wear, so the animal's age was less than 3 years.

I hope that helps.

 

[abyssunder]

It's a boss/caw tooth, nice specimen.

It looks recent to me, but I could be wrong. In my opinion, it might be more interesting for a historical research than a paleonthological one.

[agos200]

9 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

It has an isolated stylid indicating bovid.

It has damage that looks more recent than ancient -- just an impression based on experience.  If recent, then cow.

The m3 is the last permanent tooth to emerge, and the last cusp has no wear, so the animal's age was less than 3 years.

I hope that helps.

 

Thanks,very helpful, I really appreciate it!

The damage happened after finding it (from a drill bit  I tried to make it into a pendant ..)

 

8 hours ago, abyssunder said:

It's a boss/caw tooth, nice specimen.

It looks recent to me, but I could be wrong. In my opinion, it might be more interesting for a historical research than a paleonthological one.

Thank you! Excuse my ignorance - what does ''recent'' mean in this context? 50 years? 200 years? How long does it take for a tooth to fossilize like this? Thanks again!

 

[caldigger]

29 minutes ago, agos200 said:

Thank you! Excuse my ignorance - what does ''recent'' mean in this context? 50 years? 200 years? 

Since the last Ice Age ( less than 10k years ).

However, it doesn't take any time at all for items to discolor and look "fossilized" if exposed to the right enviornment and ingredients surrounding them.