NJ Horse Tooth species ID help

[JJT3]

Hi Everyone,

 

Found this horse tooth today in a NJ stream. Can anyone tell if this is a modern day horse or an older species? I have another horse canine from this same stream that was identified as a 3 toed horse. I’ll throw a pic of that in here as well.

 

Thanks,

John

[Al Dente]

Looks like a deer tooth.

 

 

[JJT3]

3 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Looks like a deer tooth.

 

 

From top down it looks like a deer but from all other sides it looks like a horse tooth. I have a deer jaw with teeth (not sure on age) and this doesn’t look like those at all.

 

maybe bison or another mammal that went extinct? This particular stream gives up some decent Pleistocene material.

[Shellseeker]

It is not horse. It looks bigger than deer.  Measurements please!!  What do antelope, elk, look like?

[JJT3]

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

It is not horse. It looks bigger than deer.  Measurements please!!  What do antelope, elk, look like?

Here are some more shots. I threw in the deer jaw I have for reference.

[JJT3]

How about a Musk Ox? Came across this while digging around the net.

 

Their remains have been found in NJ. The top down shot to me looks correct.

[Shellseeker]

2 hours ago, JJT3 said:

Here are some more shots. I threw in the deer jaw I have for reference.

I do not know what your tooth is,  but due to blue -red lines on crown height of enamel,  I know it is not deer.  This is as true in maxilla.

[Al Dente]

4 hours ago, JJT3 said:

I have a deer jaw with teeth (not sure on age) and this doesn’t look like those at all.

You are right, much too tall for deer. Some breeds of sheep have similar teeth. Have you tried to compare your tooth with sheep?

 

 

[Harry Pristis]

The horse canine is right-size for Equus.

I agree with Al Dente; the cheek tooth is bovid, sheep or goat.

 

 

[JJT3]

4 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

The horse canine is right-size for Equus.

I agree with Al Dente; the cheek tooth is bovid, sheep or goat.

 

 

 

Do you think it’s a modern tooth? I don’t know much on the history Bovids in NJ.

[Harry Pristis]

1 hour ago, JJT3 said:

Do you think it’s a modern tooth? I don’t know much on the history Bovids in NJ.

 

Other than perhaps muskox, I think bovids would be introduced in the historic period.

[JJT3]

2 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

 

Other than perhaps muskox, I think bovids would be introduced in the historic period.

Theres one last thing worth mentioning. It’s hard to see but the inside areas of this tooth are filled with the hard orange sandy Kirkwood/Cohansey layer. This is one of the ways I can tell if the find came from the exposure. You can see it on the root of the Horse canine and on this piece of white bone. Its tough to see in the picture but pretty easy to see in person.

[Harry Pristis]

 

Well, for illustration, many fossae in Pleistocene fossils found in Florida are filled with limestone dating to the Eocene or Oligocene.  Many fossae are filled with sand carried south from the weathering Appalachian Uplift before Florida emerged from the sea.  These are common accidents of deposition.