Unknown teleost (?)

[readinghiker]

Hey all!

 

  This small jaw fragment was in the thousands of fossils pulled out of anthills.  I am assuming it is a teleost.  Other than several species of sharks, rays, and sawfish, there are pycnodonts, enchodus, and Protosphyraena.  This looks like nothing I've found yet.  Any ideas?

[Lone Hunter]

I had no idea anthills could contain fossils, who goes poking around in an anthill?   Deserves an ID I thought.

[Rockwood]

47 minutes ago, Lone Hunter said:

who goes poking around in an anthill?

Folks who study early mammals. Tiny teeth being a common target.

[Fossildude19]

Not looking like any kind of fish teeth I am familiar with. 

@jpc  @Al Dente  @MarcoSr

[Rockwood]

It wouldn't surprise me if something in this condition would need to fall into the lap of a specialist in something.

[readinghiker]

7 hours ago, Lone Hunter said:

I had no idea anthills could contain fossils, who goes poking around in an anthill?   Deserves an ID I thought.

Anthills can be quite productive.  In Montana, we came up with literally hundreds of multituberculate mammal teeth from the late Cretaceous.  The site I am working on in New Mexico has produced almost 20,000 fossils, mostly sharks and rays.  This Coniacian site, which was in all likelihood an offshore barrier island, has even produced one mammal incisor!

[readinghiker]

3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Not looking like any kind of fish teeth I am familiar with. 

@jpc  @Al Dente  @MarcoSr

If not fish, then what?  They are the right size but the wrong shape for a lizard or snake, but this being an aquatic environment, I'm at a loss as to what else they could be, even if something washed out with the tide.

[readinghiker]

2 hours ago, Rockwood said:

It wouldn't surprise me if something in this condition would need to fall into the lap of a specialist in something.

Do you know of a specialist I could contact?

 

[readinghiker]

Thanks to everyone who has replied to this posting.  There are more unusual teeth that I will be posting later!

[Fossildude19]

I've tagged some people.

Hopefully, they will have a look at your find when they have a chance.   

[Rockwood]

2 hours ago, readinghiker said:

Do you know of a specialist I could contact?

 

No, but I've seen some amazing stuff cascade on here. You never know.

[readinghiker]

3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

I've tagged some people.

Hopefully, they will have a look at your find when they have a chance.   

Thank you very much!

 

[MarcoSr]

23 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Not looking like any kind of fish teeth I am familiar with. 

@jpc  @Al Dente  @MarcoSr

 

First, are you sure it isn't modern?  I find lots of modern specimens in anthill matrix, but those specimens are typically bleached bright white and are very lightweight.  I've found thousands of jaws in anthill matrix from the White River Badlands and your specimen doesn't look like it is squamate or amphibian.  I've found thousands of fish jaws in marine matrix from Virginia, and your jaw doesn't look like a fish jaw.  It looks like a mammal jaw with very worn down or very damaged teeth.  I've found a number of mammal jaws in near shore marine matrix and especially in fluvial matrix.  I don't think you will ever get a better ID because of the tooth damage.

 

Marco Sr.

[jpc]

I just saw this.  One of the things we find a lot of in anthills are fossils that cannot be Identified.  When I sort through this sort of stuff, I sort them by categories along the lines of:  mammal, lizard jaws, lizard bones, amphibian jaws, amphibian verts, singularly cool stuff, fish teeth, gar scales, interesting bones, scrap.  This this would be classified as interesting bone, which means it is not scrap and could probably be ID'ed by someone somewhere down the line, but not me, not right now.  

 

Bottom line, I have no idea what this is.  Also you did not mention what age it is from.  Cretaceous?  

[ChristineR]

On 9/18/2021 at 11:44 PM, Lone Hunter said:

I had no idea anthills could contain fossils,

Abandoned anthills are preferable. In a fossil rich environment, I never pass up a rodent burrow. Those guys are excellent excavators.