Plainsman Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Someone gave me this tooth and told me it was a dinosaur tooth. I did alittle bit of research and it appears to me to be a mastodon molar too me. The tooth was dug up here in oklahoma in the plains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman7 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 looks like styraphome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Someone gave me this tooth and told me it was a dinosaur tooth. I did alittle bit of research and it appears to me to be a mastodon molar too me. The tooth was dug up here in oklahoma in the plains. It appears to be a nice example from an elephant of the Family GOMPHOTHERIIDAE -- a different family from the mastodonts (Family MAMMUTIDAE). http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainsman Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 That's a plaster cast on the bottem. What's the indentify factor that would change the family? And what does the darker color mean, if in means anything at all. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Yes, plaster base. Whe you ask about the darker color, are you wondering about the color of the tooth? Most fossil teeth have a darker color than the white of modern teeth. They have minerals deposited in them making them rock-like. So the color is form minerals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 definitely not mastodon. does look gomphy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 That's a plaster cast on the bottem. What's the indentify factor that would change the family? And what does the darker color mean, if in means anything at all. Thanks for the help. Yes, many of us recognized that the tooth is resting on a pillow mount (I hope the tooth is not embedded in the plaster!). The distinction between the two families is the conformation of the cusps. In worn gomphothere teeth, the cusps (lophs) tends to take on a trefoil (cloverleaf) pattern. In mastodont teeth the worn cusps look like an exclamation mark which gets wider with wear. (That's the best comparison I could think of quickly.) http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainsman Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Yes, many of us recognized that the tooth is resting on a pillow mount (I hope the tooth is not embedded in the plaster!). The distinction between the two families is the conformation of the cusps. In worn gomphothere teeth, the cusps (lophs) tends to take on a trefoil (cloverleaf) pattern. In mastodont teeth the worn cusps look like an exclamation mark which gets wider with wear. (That's the best comparison I could think of quickly.) I can definately see the simularities between the tooth i have and the gompho picture.The reason I was in doubt of its mastodonity<- Was because the direction of some the later teeth on the molar had turned almost inward to a point; making the symmitries alittle diffrent. Now to find out which species this tooth belonged too. Does anyone recommend going to a university to allow them to classify this tooth further? Thank you for the all the help and yes it's a pillow mount it's very porris, I'm just not very savy. Also, I've been looking around and most of the teeth that look like mine are about 4 or so inches long and mine has a length of 8-8.5. Anyone know the average length for a molar on this familia, or the largest molar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 study up on it online. there aren't many possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear-dog Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Yes, many of us recognized that the tooth is resting on a pillow mount (I hope the tooth is not embedded in the plaster!). The distinction between the two families is the conformation of the cusps. In worn gomphothere teeth, the cusps (lophs) tends to take on a trefoil (cloverleaf) pattern. In mastodont teeth the worn cusps look like an exclamation mark which gets wider with wear. (That's the best comparison I could think of quickly.) Correct! Bear-dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 This thread made me Think of a 1.5 inch tooth fragment I found a couple of weeks ago. (photos below). Is it clearly a Mastodon crown tip? What dos the lack of wear on the tip imply? Young animal? The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Is it clearly a Mastodon crown tip? What dos the lack of wear on the tip imply? Young animal? well, now that you mention it, if gomphs stomped the area you found it, then it might well be from one of their chompers. gomphs aren't always my first thought in that they didn't tend to hang out where i hang out. but at any rate, the relative wear on teeth from hose-nosers seems to be more indicative of how old the tooth was than how old the beast was, so best bet on a full-size tooth is to think unerupted or newly erupted tooth as the explanation for no wear. much smaller than normal would get me thinking young animal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks Tracer, Found at the Fort Green Phosphate mine, Hardee County, Florida. I believe it is both Mastodon and Gomph territory. I was comparing my fragment against the 2 JPGs added by Harry and thought the brown color more closely resembled the Mastodon photo. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 my reconsiderations were based on the eye-calculus of the slope/curves of the morphologicalicities. i never go by color. and i'm not afraid of heights, just widths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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