Carnivore/omnivore canines from Florida

[PrehistoricWonders]

Hey,

I purchased these in two groups as raccoon, river otter, and possum canines, but I wanted to make sure they’re what I got them as. Biggest of them all is 1 3/16 @Harry Pristis @Shellseeker @Bone Daddy. TIA!

 

 

[Shellseeker]

Small canines in the inch to inch and 1/2 range are difficult , even for experts, to identify.  There are LOTS of variations in the same mammal that make identification problematical.

Here is a suggestion.  You are young and you should not want to have someone else always telling you what a fossil is.... Do what I do:

1) Search the internet for "fossil raccoon canine",  rinse and repeat for possum and river otter. Look for an EXPERT example.. Someone like @PrehistoricFlorida qualifies in spades for any Florida fossils. Here is one of his.

2) Study EVERY detail in your selected example.  I will start you off.  Lower canines on raccoons tend to be shorter and more curved. On that 1st photo below, do you see the serrations on the lower canine? On the 2nd photo, do you notice the longitudinal groove in the middle of the root?... On the 3rd photo, do you notice the pronounced longitudinal grove in the upper canine enamel?.... EVERY detail.

3) Go back to your groups of canines.  Identify those that you know, because of your newfound knowledge are raccoon, or possum, or river otter.

4) Come back with a new thread that says You differentiated Florida raccoon, possum, and river otter from these unique characteristics of each... You thus add to the knowledge of this forum.  That is a good thing for TFF and for you .  Then you can point out the 1 or 2 of your 15 canines that do not "fit" a pattern and ask for identification of those 2.

 

 

[PrehistoricWonders]

12 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Small canines in the inch to inch and 1/2 range are difficult , even for experts, to identify.  There are LOTS of variations in the same mammal that make identification problematical.

Here is a suggestion.  You are young and you should not want to have someone else always telling you what a fossil is.... Do what I do:

1) Search the internet for "fossil raccoon canine",  rinse and repeat for possum and river otter. Look for an EXPERT example.. Someone like @PrehistoricFlorida qualifies in spades for any Florida fossils. Here is one of his.

2) Study EVERY detail in your selected example.  I will start you off.  Lower canines on raccoons tend to be shorter and more curved. On that 1st photo below, do you see the serrations on the lower canine? On the 2nd photo, do you notice the longitudinal groove in the middle of the root?... On the 3rd photo, do you notice the pronounced longitudinal grove in the upper canine enamel?.... EVERY detail.

3) Go back to your groups of canines.  Identify those that you know, because of your newfound knowledge are raccoon, or possum, or river otter.

4) Come back with a new thread that says You differentiated Florida raccoon, possum, and river otter from these unique characteristics of each... You thus add to the knowledge of this forum.  That is a good thing for TFF and for you .  Then you can point out the 1 or 2 of your 15 canines that do not "fit" a pattern and ask for identification of those 2.

 

 

Thank you, I can do some, but I’m on a mini vacation right now, I’ll be able to research much more when I get home(Thursday, Friday, or Saturday) I do see everything you pointed out on the @PrehistoricFlorida teeth, except, serrations on the lower canine, everything else I see. Also, I got some of these from @PrehistoricFlorida, those I’m much more confident about, I can confidently I.D the ones I circled, as, blue: raccoon(they have the groove you were talking about), green: river otter(it doesn’t look like the others, and I got that with four others from @PrehistoricFlorida), and red: opossum(there is much less enamel on opossum teeth) thank you so much for all the help @Shellseeker!

[Shellseeker]

8 hours ago, Familyroadtrip said:

teeth, except, serrations on the lower canine,

Serrations on inside edge, and a "ridge" along the opposite side. That is the kind of differentiator that might not be visible based on wear.

[PrehistoricWonders]

@Shellseeker, I could kind of see that, but I couldn’t tell it those were serrations or just a little bit of feeding damage, I can kind of see it now, but it’s still tough to say whether it’s serrations or feeding wear(it could be cause I have very bad internet right now). I can tell river otter, opossum, and raccoon apart, but I’m not sure if there are any other small carnivores that have teeth similar to raccoon, possum, and river otter, or is that all I need, to be able to properly I.D?

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, Familyroadtrip said:

@Shellseeker, I could kind of see that, but I couldn’t tell it those were serrations or just a little bit of feeding damage, I can kind of see it now, but it’s still tough to say whether it’s serrations or feeding wear(it could be cause I have very bad internet right now). I can tell river otter, opossum, and raccoon apart, but I’m not sure if there are any other small carnivores that have teeth similar to raccoon, possum, and river otter, or is that all I need, to be able to properly I.D?

You learn as you go.... if you have a good memory, a database....

You now know that raccoons can have serrations on the inside of lower canines..  There are other mammals that have the same adaptations.

Look at the inside edge of this very curved camel/llama lower canine. The tooth below is 1.3 inches with serrations on the inner edge. Would you recognize it? Maybe , if you know that a couple of llama/camels from the Pleistocene of Florida have very curved canines with sharper edges/serrations on the inner edge.

[PrehistoricWonders]

@ShellseekerYeah, camel and llama are some of the teeth I can recognize easiest, I have a little harder time with wolf, and dire wolf, and all the bears of Florida. I did research some last night and have a pretty good idea of how to tell river otter, opossum, and raccoon(I think) I could send it to you if you want, but I think I’ll do some more, later or when I get home.

[Shellseeker]

7 hours ago, Familyroadtrip said:

but I think I’ll do some more, later or when I get home.

Yes, I am most interesting sharing your research results with TFF.

[PrehistoricWonders]

Ok, it might be a little while because I’m planning on doing all carnivorous mammals in FL 

[Shellseeker]

51 minutes ago, Familyroadtrip said:

Ok, it might be a little while because I’m planning on doing all carnivorous mammals in FL 

I'll help  !!! Give me the structure you like:  name, size, characteristics,  and then assign me a carnivore and I will work on it... .

[PrehistoricWonders]

@Shellseekerthank you! If it’s okay, can I pm you about it, and give you more details!