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Ivory from Florida Beach! What animal?


Jbenton

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Need help from Florida experts. Found this snorkeling near blind pass beach in Florida. Probably 4 ounces. Really nice cross hatch. What animal?

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@digit

What do you think about this photo?

 

13856D8A-B559-45FE-B22D-AB51A18154C0.jpeg

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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I’m guessing it’s a section where one of the layers broke and discolored once it fossilized? Ever seen anything like it?

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3 minutes ago, Jbenton said:

I’m guessing it’s a section where one of the layers broke and discolored once it fossilized? Ever seen anything like it?

Yes, also I am unsure that the lines are Mammoth. You see what my trailing quote says... Let's see what more reasonable members think.

lines.JPG.23e0ab80db7425ac72e323df4f3e67bf.JPG

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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If the angles are obtuse and not acute than that should push for mastodon over mammoth, no?

post-17588-0-00922900-1456954535.jpg.c57ca1d4ded673f5e6ead9e14c184e36.jpg

I don't remember where we decided gomphotheres came down on this spectrum but I don't believe the blackened surface necessarily indicates an enameled strip. Were it to be enamel then that would strongly indicate gomphothere. I guess I'd be in the Mammut americanum group on this.

 

https://floridapaleosociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Fossil-Species-of-Florida-1-2002-Mammut-Americanum.pdf

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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37 minutes ago, Jbenton said:

So what animal could it be? 

It is more important to get an identification correct than fast. We are attempting to figure it out.  Here is a thread that lays out the possibilities.

 

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Which angle do you measure? Two intersecting lines that aren't perpendicular will always make acute and obtuse angles.

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2 hours ago, digit said:

If the angles are obtuse and not acute than that should push for mastodon over mammoth, no?

post-17588-0-00922900-1456954535.jpg.c57ca1d4ded673f5e6ead9e14c184e36.jpg

 

 

48 minutes ago, Top Trilo said:

Two intersecting lines that aren't perpendicular will always make acute and obtuse angles.

As @darrow has demonstrated,  there is a significant degree of inaccuracy based on exactly where on the tusk, you mark the lines. However, this is the way I read this chart.

On the left we have 4 Mammoth species congregating around 75-80 degrees, on the right,  4 Mastodon/Gomph types congregating around 125-130 degrees.

Mammoth is "closer" to a 90 degree angle than is Mastodon.

 

 

 

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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3 hours ago, Jbenton said:

I’m guessing it’s a section where one of the layers broke and discolored once it fossilized? Ever seen anything like it?

Yes,

This is Ryhchotherium,  a Gomphothere from Florida... Is your "discolored" area , as you suggest a broken section of "Bark" enamel that surrounds the tusk" OR a strip of enamel down the side of the tusk that implies a different species? For now, I am agreeing with Digit  that it is the former.  and that makes your find Mammut americanum,  American Mastodon

FossilTuskStrip.JPG.302b8905bbfe44010144c6fc52917f8e.JPG

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Here's a good image of mammoth Schreger lines. The Schreger angles on fossil in question appear close to 90* by my untrained eye.

SchregerLines.jpg

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                                                         “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum" 

                                                                       Descartes

 

 

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Here is another comparison photo: Question is the edge broken or a clean margin as Harry says...

P2027667Tusk2.jpg.17e533c1d9326a91066ccb71ee4917c8.jpgComparison-of-upper-tusk-of-Rhynchotherium-edensis-syntype-UCMP-24047-on-left-and.png.c04ea7cbaf1d5993286d8cedc9194a7b.png

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The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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The crosshatch is no greater than 90 degrees assuming I’m looking at this right. The pics are not as clear as in person. Doesn’t this imply mammoth vs gomp?

0621FF99-D0FC-433C-91CF-31E96959C8E0.jpeg

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9 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Yes,

This is Ryhchotherium,  a Gomphothere from Florida... Is your "discolored" area , as you suggest a broken section of "Bark" enamel that surrounds the tusk" OR a strip of enamel down the side of the tusk that implies a different species? For now, I am agreeing with Digit  that it is the former.  and that makes your find Mammut americanum,  American Mastodon

FossilTuskStrip.JPG.302b8905bbfe44010144c6fc52917f8e.JPG

@Shellseekerthe darkened area is on the concave side which would imply surrounds the tusk, not the outside. See attached pic. Does this help?

BA002944-AA5D-4797-B092-1BB068A8F500.jpeg

4C6A3389-BCDD-42CC-B5D6-90B4682EF53D.jpeg

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15 hours ago, Jbenton said:

the darkened area is on the concave side which would imply surrounds the tusk, not the outside. See attached pic. Does this help?

I have speculated above attempting to reach an identification.  The Schreger lines seem to indicate mammoth,  however I have never seen anything remotely similar to the straight line enamel on Mammoth. I find your explanation unconvincing.

The only similarity I can recall is on the concave side of Gomphothere tusks. I can not help you further.

As in numerous other attempts at Identification, you need to draw your own conclusions based on your interpretation of available data.

 

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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The darker portion of this fossil is on the inside of the tusk, and in my opinion, is the pulp cavity of the tusk that simply fossilized differently than the rest of the ivory, it is not enamel.

Here's an image of a elephant tusk cross section with pulp cavity:

pulpcavityschreger_lines (2).jpg

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                                                         “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum" 

                                                                       Descartes

 

 

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