Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) Hey ya'll I found what I suspect to be a mammalian carnivore (or omnivore) tooth today - it's fossilized, so it ought to be from the Pleistocene, but I found it while hunting cretaceous fossils in Austin (central texas). It's still embedded in the jaw bone. Based on a few brief images from google, I have an outlandish suspicion of what it might be - but I'll leave the actual ID to you guys Edited August 23, 2021 by Jared C edited because the spacing and images came out funky 1 “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhysicist Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I don't think I've seen a tooth like this. I also suspect that it's mammalian. @Harry Pristis ... what is your "outlandish suspicion?" "Argumentation cannot suffice for the discovery of new work, since the subtlety of Nature is greater many times than the subtlety of argument." - Carl Sagan "I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." - Richard Feynman Collections: Hell Creek Microsite | Hell Creek/Lance | Dinosaurs | Sharks | Squamates | Post Oak Creek | North Sulphur River | Lee Creek | Aguja | Permian | Devonian | Triassic | Harding Sandstone Instagram: @thephysicist_tff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 1 minute ago, ThePhysicist said: ... what is your "outlandish suspicion?" I thought for a second that it was feline, but I'm not so sure anymore after googling more photos. I also took a peek at @Harry Pristis's tooth gallery and now I'm still completely stumped “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Maybe @Boessewill recognize the tooth. I don't . . . but it looks cetacean to me. 2 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...
Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) I'll put in some additional context in case it helps. I found it among sparse gravel, on a layer where Cretaceous fossils were being exposed. In fact, about 15 feet away, on the same level, I found a Scapanorynchus tooth that appeared to be weathering out of the ground, (as opposed to deposited by a flood.) Behind and above, there was a dirt cliff - there were pebble layers at the bottom of the dirt cliff (which as a whole was about 15-20 feet tall), and those pebble layers held cretaceous exogyra fossils, but those cretaceous pebble bands disappeared as the cliff went vertical. I assumed this tooth in question tumbled down as it got exposed towards the top of the cliff, to be lying among the cretaceous sediment at the bottom of said cliff. Here's a screenshot from a USGS map of the location I found this tooth. It's cropped and at 0% translucency to avoid giving away the precise location. I found it in the circled area. I will describe what might be relevant info from USGS's description of each of these colored formations ORANGE: Rock unit name: High gravel deposits Sheet name: Austin Period: Quaternary Epoch or Series: Pleistocene YELLOW: Rock Unit Name: Alluvium Epoch or series: Holocene LIGHT GREEN: Rock unit name: Ozan Formation Period: Cretaceous Epoch or Series: Gulfian Group: Taylor Group Geo-Order number: 7028 Hopefully all these details help a little Edited August 23, 2021 by Jared C “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 @Jared C can you post more, clear photos of the bone (less fingers)? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 15 minutes ago, JohnJ said: @Jared C can you post more, clear photos of the bone (less fingers)? Sure thing - let me know if you need any other specific angles 1 “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Nice. The Oceans of Kansas website identifies these as Hadrodus hewletti. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Nice find! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Al Dente said: Hadrodus hewletti. very nice, thank you! Not a mystery Pleistocene carnivore, but from what I can tell so far I think this may still be an uncommon find, so still pleased nonetheless! “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Never seen a Cenozoic tooth like this! Totally whacky. @Al Dente is right on the money though, after finding a few additional images of Hadrodus. I've only seen the weird flattened hook-like pharyngeal teeth before from eastern NC, not one of these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, Boesse said: Never seen a Cenozoic tooth like this! Totally whacky. @Al Dente is right on the money though, after finding a few additional images of Hadrodus. I've only seen the weird flattened hook-like pharyngeal teeth before from eastern NC, not one of these. sweet! thanks for your input “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Great find, @Jared C. There are more images at OOK that give an idea of the morphology. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
val horn Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reebs Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 neat find!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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