Mehrten Formation Rhino tooth and jaw or something else

[fossilsonwheels]

This isn’t one of my personal fossils but is part of the fossil exhibit at the Gateway Science Museum in Chico where I work. I’ve posted some stuff from this in other threads here but we’ve been questioning this particular one a bit. 

 

The fossils come from the Mehrten Formation in Central California and were dated to 8.2 million years old. 

 

These are associated finds and have been tentatively identified as belonging to a Rhino. I don’t have a genus beyond it’s Rhino. The lead fossil preparator, Sean Nies and I, both wanted to double check the ID. The tooth is a bit different than the other Rhino teeth from the site and the jaw pieces looked thinner than those in the reference books. Not saying the ID is wrong. Confirmation would be helpful though

 

I am most definitely not an expert in Miocene mammals so my knowledge is limited. I just thought it was worth posting here and getting other opinions 

 

The tooth is 6.5 cm in height and 3.1cm wide. 

Edited March 25, 2022 by fossilsonwheels

[fossilsonwheels]

The jaw piece is 16.5cm x 13.5 cm x 6cm. It split during prep. 

[Harry Pristis]

For comparison: