AJ Plai Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) Hey I found this interesting looking tooth the other day and was wondering if it's a whale tooth like the dealer told. It's North American in origin as far as he could tell. Here is what it looks like: From these pics is it possible to ID the specie? If so how rare is it to find a specie like this or to find a tooth this size in this condition? Thx again for the help guys! PS: in case some of you are wondering, no it's not a $5,000 tooth!! It's in Thai baht which is approximately $160-ish. Edited February 18, 2013 by AJ Plai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDOTB Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 It does look like a whale tooth. Some larged toothed whale, maybe sperm whale. Did the dealer provide any formation or age of the fossil? I dont think I would pay 160.00 for it though. DO, or do not. There is no try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 What you have is an extinct toothed whale tooth of a species called Scaldicetus. Not rare and can fetch $100 to several hundred depending on size, condition and locality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Similar teeth can usually be had on websites and on eBay for $50-$60. www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Plai Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Thx for the info guys. Sadly, the dealer doesn't know much more than this - you know, one of those "I got this from a friend, who got the tooth from a fossil show in 20xx..." It's the one thing I am frustrated the most about many of the local fossil dealers here - they just don't care (or know better in a few cases..) to record their specimen's provenance and locality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Plai Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Not to mention, often over-priced or mis-represented specimens.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 As I've detailed before, the "Scaldicetus" morphotype is not a real genus, and is a paraphyletic grade taxon including numerous extinct physeteroid genera (Livyatan, Brygmophyseter, Zygophyseter, Acrophyseter, etc.) Teeth of this morphology are best identified as Physeteroidea indeterminate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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