Alex_S Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Hi all, First of all, I am not a big fossil hunter, so please forgive me if this is a rookie mistake! This summer I started going for walks along creeks and rivers in central Ohio to get out of the house during all of this COVID-19 craziness! I usually try to look at my feet just in case I’ll stumble on a cool fossil or an arrowhead! So far, I haven’t found much! Tonight though, I noticed something odd in between two large rocks, and when I pulled it out, it was a tooth! The bottom feels and looks exactly like rock, and the top looks like enamel. The tooth is about the size of a dime. I’ve had some people online tell me it’s a modern deer and others say it is an ice age deer (both said Odocoileus virginianus), so I thought I would get additional opinions to try and get to the bottom of things! Thanks so much for your expertise, and apologies if the photos aren’t the best! I can try to take better ones in the morning when it isn’t dark out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 There is a test that involves the smell of the substance when burned which is used to determine this question. I sort of doubt this will work well here though. My gut feeling as a lifelong outdoor Mainer is that this one is most likely a fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricWonders Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 It looks like a fossil t ok me, but it was found in Ohio and I haven’t heard of any vertebrate fossil in Ohio, interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 The white tail deer has been here for the whole of the Pleistocene. There is no easily-accessible test for age, but I agree with Rockwood, it does appear to be a fossil. 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...
Alex_S Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 Thank you all so much for the info! Happy to hear it’s a fossil after all! The dark part on the bottom feels exactly like stone so I was hoping that’s what it was. Definitely better than picking up a recent tooth!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 57 minutes ago, Alex_S said: Definitely better than picking up a recent tooth!! If indeed a fossil (seems most likely) it is a fairly to very rare find in that area I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 11:35 PM, Familyroadtrip said: but it was found in Ohio and I haven’t heard of any vertebrate fossil in Ohio Ohio has both Devonian vertebrates (very famous for some of its fish) and a Pleistocene vertebrate fauna. Almost the entire state is covered by Pleistocene deposits and the book "Fossils of Ohio" has a whole chapter on vertebrate fossils (birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and lots of different mammals, including deer). Fossil, modern or something in between is pretty difficult to tell for something like the find in question. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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