colohank Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 I need help identifying this specimen. I found it while sorting through a box of childhood treasures collected by my maternal grandfather, probably in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The "collection" is varied and disorganized. It includes lithic tools, projectile points, potsherds, mineral specimens, fossils, military buttons, some boars' tusks, rodent skulls, and other curiosities -- in short, anything that might have caught the eye of a youngster. None of the items in the collection, including this specimen, have been treated for preservation or appearance. Provenance of the objects is unknown, but I assume that most objects were collected in the area surrounding my grandfather's boyhood home in Huntington, WV. The specimen is small. As oriented in the picture, i measures only 15mm (5/8-inch) in width (from left to right), 9mm in height (less than 3/8-inch), and 5mm (1/4-inch) in thickness. It appears to be bilaterally symmetrical (or nearly so), and the surface is smooth, lustrous, and rather evenly dotted with pores. The back surface, facing away from the camera, is planar and rough, which suggests that the specimen may have been broken off of something larger. Please don't be misled by the apparent size of the specimen in the photo (about a 2X life-size image on the sensor). It's really very small. Thanks in advance for any help or insights you can offer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Interesting looking piece for sure. I don't know what it is but give this group some time. Someone will know. Recommend getting additional photos of other sides to help. And a little brighter. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Welcome to TFF from Austria! I have no idea what it is, but looks interesting, thanks for sharing. 1 hour ago, Sjfriend said: Recommend getting additional photos of other sides to help. And a little brighter. Yeah. But the pic is already very good and sharp, good background, good setup of lightning overall . Are you a pro photographer, @colohank? We rarely see that good pics of such small items in a first entry . Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 sweet! I think that your suspicion that it's marine is almost surely correct. I know almost nothing about anything besides "central texas cretaceous vertebrates", but I can almost guarantee you that someone else will recognize this come morning time “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...
DPS Ammonite Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 The “pores” sort of look like corallites with radial septa. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Syringopora ? 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 I'm getting the coral vibe from this as well. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Too small for coral. The symmetry, small size and shiny surface makes me think Paleozoic shark tooth but photos of different angles would help identify this. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 (edited) Here are similar teeth from the Oceans of Kansas website and another similar tooth from this Fossil Forum thread-http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/63937-shark-tooth-fragment-from-north-texas-hunt/ Edited December 9, 2021 by Al Dente 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colohank Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 Thanks, everyone, for your prompt replies, comments, and suggestions. Thanks to Al Dente, I'm leaning heavily toward an Agassizodus tooth (teeth?) based on the picture (KE-038) he posted. That image just about nails it. I'll try to set up and capture some additional images from other angles to share with you later today or tomorrow. No, I'm not a professional photographer, Franz. Just an enthusiast with an interest in higher magnification photography. Thanks again. Hank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgbudge Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 My first thought was coral; my second was bryozoan. I would never have guessed a shark tooth. I love this place. 3 My Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colohank Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Here are additional pictures of the tooth in various orientations. Most around 2-2.5X, but the pores are at 13X. First is the fracture plane on the "back" of the tooth. Then a shot of the "bottom." I chose a bit more dramatic lighting for the third image. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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