Fossil Tooth from Peru

[RJB]

   I traded for this tooth 20 some years ago.  I cant remember anything about except that its from Peru.  Can I get some help to id this tooth.  Measures 2 3/8 inches.  Thanks so much. 

 

RB

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Not that I have any knowledge either on Peruvian fossils or on the likely clade of animals this tooth would've belonged to, but I believe the Paracas-peninsula has yielded quite a range of primitive whale species. Though the tooth crown appears quite small and sunken into the root, compared to the piece as a whole, I think it's likely that this is your locality and Cetacea your clade...

 

May be someone with more experience with Artiodactyla, such as @Shellseeker or may be @Boesse, can chip in to confirm or deny my suspicion...

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Just a question, as I can't really tell from three photographs: is the tooth laterally compressed or does it have carinae? I'm asking since from the photos it looks like it might be, in which case I see some semblance to certain pinniped teeth (following Wolsan, Suzuki, Asahara and Motokawa, 2015. Tooth size variation in pinniped dentition):

 

 

Would you furthermore be able to take a photograph from the tip of the crown down, to see how the crown connects to the root?

[Shellseeker]

5 hours ago, RJB said:

I traded for this tooth 20 some years ago.  I cant remember anything about except that its from Peru.  Can I get some help to id this tooth.  Measures 2 3/8 inches.  Thanks so much. 

 

RB

Ron,

You know I have an obscene attraction for this tooth.  When I first spied it , in the background of one of your photos on ammonites,  I tried to find out it's name with little or no success.  I believe that it is Scaldicetus .sp,  but there is a huge amount hidden in that ".sp"

@jcbshark found this one, which has some similarity to yours.

and , searching  the internet, I found this one:

 

You also might check on

Quote

Hoplocetus ritzi n. sp. is a new hoplocetine physeterid from the Bolboforma fragori /subfragoris Zone of the middle/late Miocene mica-clay of Groß Pampau in Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany.

It might be interesting to find better view of A and especially M.

x

 

Hopefully Bobby can assist..

[siteseer]

They find whale teeth of various ages in Peru.  Most of what I've seen is Early Miocene, Late Miocene, and Early Pliocene.  I've seen some Pleistocene shark teeth so I assume whale teeth have been found with those as well.  The preservation looks more like what you can get from the Early Miocene but you can be wrong going by color and condition.  It's still just a guess.  Hopefully, you can find a label or a note on that tooth.

 

With that said it does look like one of the sperm whale tooth forms usually referred to as "Scaldicetus grade."  That's not necessarily identifying it by genus.  It's a grouping by general form that allows for a high level of variation - the full range seen in teeth of this grade likely crossing a few genera.  It's hard to tell from the photo but these teeth, when unworn, often exhibit a somewhat rugose texture on the enamel of the crown with irregular folds, bumps and grooves.  They find teeth like this in different parts of the world - most often in Miocene sites.

 

Jess 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

8 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Hahaha! I thought I recognized these two images from one of our previous discussions on whale teeth, @Shellseeker. Actually had a quick look back at that thread yesterday for some inspiration here, as that was my first time dealing with sperm whale teeth (or any cetacean tooth, for that matter). I did consider the specimen on the left (the black-coloured one), but thought the root looked too narrow vis-à-vis the tooth crown to be a match. Even considered OP's tooth to maybe be a pinniped tooth stuck to a sperm whale root. But the below image did it for me. I'm quite convinced that'd be a good match...

8 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

By the way, did you ever figure out what the other tooth crown was?

[Shellseeker]

16 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

By the way, did you ever figure out what the other tooth crown was?

No , never certain. 

I focus and agree with Bobby's analysis and because of the curve of the tip, I am thinking large delphinid.  Sometimes I just have to live with not knowing...  Jack

 

I think this could be a Scaldicetus-grade juvenile sperm whale [sperm whales that still had enamel crowns]. Another peculiarity is that the root, and crown, are expanded in the anteroposterior direction - in most delphinids, the root is expanded linguo-labially and anteroposteriorly flattened (to fit more teeth in the jaw).

[Boesse]

Agreed on a Scaldicetus-grade sperm whale. I've always thought the ultra-inflated roots of these specimens looked quite amusing. Kind of a ridiculous growth pattern if you think about it!