"Deinotherium Tusk" I bought a while back

[GarethGP]

21 minutes ago, AlaskaNick said:

It’s totally a personal call whether or not to keep the reconstructed tip/epoxy. If you did want to keep it I would say sand it down to the same level/smoothness of the rest of the tusk and then try to paint to match colors. This one will be a tricky paint job, or at least I know it would be for me. I’m not much of a painter and have neger had to paint such a large surface area, in my case it was usually just crack fill or a much smaller tusk tip in which a uniform color did the trick. In this case a uniform color would probably look worse than the current white epoxy, but I know there are people out there who could expertly paint to match the varying ivory tones and even the natural cracks, but that would be really tough. In the end, it’s just personal choice for what you want on the piece. If you do end up trying to paint if you decide you don’t like it you could always just sand it away again or scrap the whole idea and remove the epoxy altogether. 

 

Thank you, this is very helpful!!

[Shellseeker]

15 hours ago, GarethGP said:

Hey, so I just saw this post about 8 months late and I'm revisiting this piece to see what I can do with it. I've confirmed it's a gomphothere tusk of some kind - as it has this gorgeous enamel strip on top (if anyone has any suggestions on species, I'm still open to hearing them!). You've inspired me to keep the epoxy tip and try what I can to improve the appearance of this piece - I was really biased against epoxy repairs, but it's true, pieces like this might not have survived if there wasn't reconstruction involved. It's also rare online I've noticed to find gomphothere tusk specimens - so while it looks like a bit of a hack job right now, I want to try to improve that a bit and make it presentable. I've got a better camera now and have taken pics of each angle. If this was your piece what would you do with it from here? Would you just add a little brown paint to the epoxied spots and rounded tip, maybe get some super glue in those cracks to stabilize it a bit more and call it a day? 

Gareth,

Amazingly,  I have not previously seen this thread.

I am fortunate relative to proboscidean tusks.  Over the last 15 years,  I have found a lot of it (Mammoth,  Mastodon, multiple species of Gomphothere, including Cunevarious and Rynchotherium all from Florida.

I have no intention of selling any of it because each piece carries the huge value of the memory and pleasure of finding it.  I have stabilized these fossils and keep them in the condition found. I will leave it to my kids to keep or dispose of them.

On 5/22/2022 at 5:14 PM, GarethGP said:

Well the mystery deepens. I was cleaning it today and the previous glue job fell open (not material lost - easy fix), revealing....Schreger lines. Which means this is not deinotherium.

I am surprised to find that any proboscidean ancestor does not have Hunter _Schreger lines in its ivory.

 

I did have a similar situation,  as yours,  some years back but with Rhino tusks.  I have a friend who worked in the Florida phosphate mines for 30 years and collected all sorts of unique fossils. He had a preference for Rhino material and once had more than 15 tusks of Teleoceras Proterum. Over the years he sold the perfect ones.  When we started hunting together,  he had 4 imperfect ones left. He offered to give it to me. I checked the Internet,  seemed like the best were going for $700-$1500. I gave him $500 for the best he had left,  one with some slight but obvious damage to the Tip. and now I had your problem. 

Never going to sell this .. Would I repair the Tip? I asked TFF and many said No, keep the fossil as original as possible. I understood and respected that view.  It was almost certainly correct. I thought about it for a while.  I was going to show the tusk and tell its story to many non fossil hunters or hobbyists. I decided to make myself happy.  I searched for the best fossil restorer I could find and gave him $400 to fix the tip.

My answer is Make yourself happy.  You thought you had Deinotherium, but through your efforts and the help with TFF friends, you built a detective story of what it might be.  I think I would leave it alone,  print off all these posts and put them into a phamplet to keep with the tusk. It is good for old fossil hunters to have stories to tell....

 

[GarethGP]

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

Gareth,

Amazingly,  I have not previously seen this thread.

I am fortunate relative to proboscidean tusks.  Over the last 15 years,  I have found a lot of it (Mammoth,  Mastodon, multiple species of Gomphothere, including Cunevarious and Rynchotherium all from Florida.

I have no intention of selling any of it because each piece carries the huge value of the memory and pleasure of finding it.  I have stabilized these fossils and keep them in the condition found. I will leave it to my kids to keep or dispose of them.

I am surprised to find that any proboscidean ancestor does not have Hunter _Schreger lines in its ivory.

 

I did have a similar situation,  as yours,  some years back but with Rhino tusks.  I have a friend who worked in the Florida phosphate mines for 30 years and collected all sorts of unique fossils. He had a preference for Rhino material and once had more than 15 tusks of Teleoceras Proterum. Over the years he sold the perfect ones.  When we started hunting together,  he had 4 imperfect ones left. He offered to give it to me. I checked the Internet,  seemed like the best were going for $700-$1500. I gave him $500 for the best he had left,  one with some slight but obvious damage to the Tip. and now I had your problem. 

Never going to sell this .. Would I repair the Tip? I asked TFF and many said No, keep the fossil as original as possible. I understood and respected that view.  It was almost certainly correct. I thought about it for a while.  I was going to show the tusk and tell its story to many non fossil hunters or hobbyists. I decided to make myself happy.  I searched for the best fossil restorer I could find and gave him $400 to fix the tip.

My answer is Make yourself happy.  You thought you had Deinotherium, but through your efforts and the help with TFF friends, you built a detective story of what it might be.  I think I would leave it alone,  print off all these posts and put them into a phamplet to keep with the tusk. It is good for old fossil hunters to have stories to tell....

 

 

Hiya Shellseeker! Yes I did a lot of research in regards to this specimen and from what I understand, deinotherium seems to be the only proboscidean that I'm aware of without Schreger lines! 

 

Thank you for relating your experience with various tusk specimens and your personal choices on what to do with them. I haven't quite decided what I'll do with this piece, but I think printing off this thread is a wonderful idea and I'll definitely do that!

 

Am I correct in reading you have gomphothere tusk specimens in your possession? Are they posted anywhere on this forum? I understand the enamel strip is a pretty clear indicator of gomphothere, but the appearance of that strip can differ based on species with one gomphothere that I know of having a strip that wraps around the tusk (if I remember correctly). 

 

Thank you for your interest in my bit of tusk! That Teleoceras piece is stunning!

[Shellseeker]

19 hours ago, GarethGP said:

 

......Am I correct in reading you have gomphothere tusk specimens in your possession? Are they posted anywhere on this forum? I understand the enamel strip is a pretty clear indicator of gomphothere, but the appearance of that strip can differ based on species with one gomphothere that I know of having a strip that wraps around the tusk (if I remember correctly). 

 

Thank you for your interest in my bit of tusk! That Teleoceras piece is stunning!

 

Yes,  I have gomphothere tusk specimens... However,  I generally used them to attach comments to other TFF members threads. At the time,  I was always concerned that some younger, smarter version of myself,  might read my posts and discover (by osmosis ?) where exactly I had found them. No one owns the river,   but it should be hard to find the treasures.

 

You should search this forum for "Rynchotherium"

 

Here is a selection:

Mastodon: October 16th, 2015 Peace River

 

Mammoth May 5th, 2021

 

Rynchotherium:  May 22nd, 2020

 

 

Rynchotherium July 3rd, 2021

 

Gomphothere  July 15th, 2020

[GarethGP]

7 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

  I was always concerned that some younger, smarter version of myself,  might read my posts and discover (by osmosis ?) where exactly I had found them. No one owns the river,   but it should be hard to find the treasures.

 

Haha fair enough - I understand. What an incredible selection of tusks! Jeez. Good job on finding those. I'll check out Rynchotherium for sure!