Mammal Tooth from Calvert Cliffs

[bthemoose]

I found the tooth below on a beach along the Calvert Cliffs (Miocene exposure) in Maryland this morning. Any idea what it came from? It looks like some kind of mammal tooth to me though it's missing the root. I'm not sure whether it's a fossil or modern. Thanks!

 

[diginupbones]

Not an expert here but looks like Peccary. Cool tooth!

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Yes, peccary or pig. This tooth has no root because it was in formation, not out of the bone. Look how the occlusal surface is intact and not worn out.

 

Coco

[bthemoose]

Great, thank you both! @Coco, when you say peccary or pig, do you think this is potentially from a more modern/recent pig rather than a Miocene peccary, or did you just mean that a peccary is a pig-like animal?

[PrehistoricWonders]

I’d guess that it’s peccary 1. Because I don’t know how a pig would be there, and 2. Cause that’s just what it looks like to me. Would it be modern or a fossil if it was pig?

[Coco]

I mean that a pig is a peccary-like animal (or vice versa), wild pig, wild boar. I can't tell you if it is recent or fossil with pics, and I don't know the fauna of C. C., but I think you will obtain an answer soon.

 

Coco

[bthemoose]

Just now, Coco said:

I mean that a pig is a peccary-like animal (or vice versa). I can't tell you if it is recent or fossil with pics, and I don't know the fauna of C. C., but I think you will obtain an answer soon.

 

Coco

Got it, thank you! And thanks as well for your earlier explanation about why there isn't a root. This tooth looks like a fossil to me, though it's the first time I've seen one like it in person.

 

From searching online (and past TFF threads), peccary teeth are definitely found along the Calvert Cliffs, though not that commonly since they had to travel out to sea to fossilize there. Here's an interesting short piece about this that I just came across, written by Dr. Stephen Godfrey from the Calvert Marine Museum: https://www.myfossil.org/featured-fossil-miocene-peccary-lower-jaw/.

[bthemoose]

15 minutes ago, Familyroadtrip said:

I’d guess that it’s peccary 1. Because I don’t know how a pig would be there, and 2. Cause that’s just what it looks like to me. Would it be modern or a fossil if it was pig?

Thanks! If it's fossilized then I believe that means it's a peccary as pigs haven't been in this area very long.

[PrehistoricWonders]

Are they in that area now?

[bthemoose]

Just now, Familyroadtrip said:

Are they in that area now?

There are definitely pigs in Maryland, including feral pigs, though I don't know if there are any around the cliffs (I've never seen one there).

[Mahnmut]

Wow, very nice find, especially the colour and non-root-preservation!

Although I met a Peccary named Pippo in Bolivia  15 years ago who used to help on a plantation by eating the leftovers,

I only learnt about the differences between Peccaries and pigs only when delving into mammal cladistics recently, until then they where all pigs to me.

So excuse me when I repeat what you may already know.

Apart from different teeth and toes, Peccaries do have a differently working stomach, thats why they are sometimes called "ruminant pigs" which is not exactly right.

They are also called new world pigs, because they have been there much longer than the "normal" pigs, reaching south America in the GABI (great american biota interchange).

Cheers!

[bthemoose]

1 hour ago, Mahnmut said:

Wow, very nice find, especially the colour and non-root-preservation!

Although I met a Peccary named Pippo in Bolivia  15 years ago who used to help on a plantation by eating the leftovers,

I only learnt about the differences between Peccaries and pigs only when delving into mammal cladistics recently, until then they where all pigs to me.

So excuse me when I repeat what you may already know.

Apart from different teeth and toes, Peccaries do have a differently working stomach, thats why they are sometimes called "ruminant pigs" which is not exactly right.

They are also called new world pigs, because they have been there much longer than the "normal" pigs, reaching south America in the GABI (great american biota interchange).

Cheers!

Thanks for additional info, which was new to me!