Cranial appendage?

[cava.zachary]

Hi all, I found this horn-like fossil in a north Florida river recently. It seems fairly light and porous (not like an antler). It reminds me of some of the cranial appendages of tylopods that I'm reading about, but it's probably something less exciting. I appreciate the help!

[Harry Pristis]

It's far more likely to be a white tail deer antler tine.

[Carl]

13 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

It's far more likely to be a white tail deer antler tine.

One of my favorite lines in Paleontology for this situation: When you hear hoofsteps, think horse, not zebra. (But recently, a gained some South African paleontologist friends, who pointed out this adage doesn't not work over there...)

[cava.zachary]

Thank you @Harry Pristis and @Carl. That's what I had initially thought, but it felt lighter than I expected for antler so that threw me off. So, for fossils of species that still occur in the area, is there any way to determine age (even roughly) if they are found in a river like this one was? (E.g. a few hundred years vs. 10,000 years, etc.)

[Carl]

On 1/10/2022 at 7:40 PM, cava.zachary said:

Thank you @Harry Pristis and @Carl. That's what I had initially thought, but it felt lighter than I expected for antler so that threw me off. So, for fossils of species that still occur in the area, is there any way to determine age (even roughly) if they are found in a river like this one was? (E.g. a few hundred years vs. 10,000 years, etc.)

Aging would be difficult in this situation because the specimen has lost its geologic context. It could potentially be carbon dated but this is expensive.

[Sjfriend]

In 1st and 3rd photo, hard to tell in photo as I see them, is that a hole or damage near base? Can't tell if blood vessel or nerve hole or just a bit of damage. If it is a hole then not a antler tine. If damage  then it sure looks like an antler time of some sort

[cava.zachary]

1 hour ago, Sjfriend said:

In 1st and 3rd photo, hard to tell in photo as I see them, is that a hole or damage near base? Can't tell if blood vessel or nerve hole or just a bit of damage. If it is a hole then not a antler tine. If damage  then it sure looks like an antler time of some sort

 

I'm not sure, I thought it was a nerve/vessel hole but I don't have much experience. Attaching a couple more photos. 

[Sjfriend]

1 hour ago, cava.zachary said:

 

I'm not sure, I thought it was a nerve/vessel hole but I don't have much experience. Attaching a couple more photos. 

Looks more like just a dimple in the bone then a hole. If a hole it would go all the way into the core. So, I'm leaning more towards antler tine. And age really impossible to figure out without expensive test but definitely appears mineralized so I'm guessing fossil and not just water staining.