Maybe Bear

[Shellseeker]

I was out most of the day hunting the Peace River...It was a gorgeous day, getting warmer. My success started slow but picked up at the end.. I will need another thread for displaying the finds,  but tomorrow maybe..

I was very pleased with this.  I have only a few bear fossils. When I got home , I started searching... Not too many photos on the Internet of this tooth  and I noted that few of the photos identified the tooth position  ( lower, left m1) for example. 

This looks like bear,  maybe an upper right P4 of Ursus Americanus.... but I am really guessing and need some confirmation.

 

On the loss of enamel,  is that natural or post mortem?

Thanks for the assist,   Jack

[Doctor Mud]

Always enjoy seeing what pops up in your sieve. Can’t help with the ID, but a nice find! 
Hard to say on that enamel loss with a river find, but could be wear from an older individual? If from tumbling in the river you would expect damage elsewhere on the tooth too?

i only have experience with cetacean teeth  I’ve found in situ that had similar wear/enamel loss. 
 

[Shellseeker]

41 minutes ago, Doctor Mud said:

Always enjoy seeing what pops up in your sieve. Can’t help with the ID, but a nice find! 
Hard to say on that enamel loss with a river find, but could be wear from an older individual? If from tumbling in the river you would expect damage elsewhere on the tooth too?

i only have experience with cetacean teeth  I’ve found in situ that had similar wear/enamel loss. 
 

I have seen in Cat, Wolf, Mastodon  similar wear patterns  where the "mountains" wear down to the "valleys" I wondered about the enamel spall down the side of the tooth poits marked in red,  but think it could occur just due to pressure from the opposing tooth.

The Peace River is a high churn environment that can break up concrete block,  so it certainly could chew up a small tooth like this.  However, I believe all the damage to this tooth was done by the animal pre_death.   Thanks for the response.

[Doctor Mud]

58 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

I have seen in Cat, Wolf, Mastodon  similar wear patterns  where the "mountains" wear down to the "valleys" I wondered about the enamel spall down the side of the tooth poits marked in red,  but think it could occur just due to pressure from the opposing tooth.

The Peace River is a high churn environment that can break up concrete block,  so it certainly could chew up a small tooth like this.  However, I believe all the damage to this tooth was done by the animal pre_death.   Thanks for the response.

I think you are right. I’ve heard the key to identifying tooth wear or feeding damage is to look at the rest of the tooth. The amount of energy needed if that was river wear would certainly end up with an overall much more tumbled looking tooth. But the root and the rest of the tooth look pretty much pristine.