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Adult Bovine Teeth


wfrr

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Recently I found a diagnostic tool that has been helpful to me. Being new at and unsure of myself during ID, I figure on using all of the help I can get. Nothing beats hands on for me.

While searching a fossil site a few months ago I found a skull from a common adult bovine. All of the upper jaw teeth were there with typical adult wear. There were no lower jaw bones. I tossed it in the back of the truck. I figured to paint it and hang it on the wall or something.

Recently I've found myself using ole bossy to compare and ID teeth I've collected through the years. I've picked up bison teeth and thought they belonged to bossy and of course the more common, I've picked up old cow teeth thinking they might be from a bison. I get a little confused in the field and not wanting to pick up teeth from a common moo cow I've been known to throw them back. With that method I am now certain that I've left some bison material behind. Teeth with a lot of mineralization are such a problem, it's the ones that show some age with little or no mineralization that I tend to have trouble with.

There are a lot of cattle living now, just think how many there must have been since the Spaniards brought them here in the 1500's. We all find a lot of teeth that once belonged to barnyard bovines during our hunts.

There were many more...really countless multitudes of bison. As recently as 160 years ago there were still a few in the wild around in North Tx. There must still be a lot of teeth to find out there.

Having ole bossy sure helps me when it comes to ID. Before long I suspect I'll have gained enough experience to know the difference on my own in most cases. If unsure I can always refer back to ole bossy. Until I find my very own bison noggin she'll have to do.

Yesterday while hunting for fossils I picked up a rt lower jaw belonging to an adult bovine with all of the jaw teeth intact with typical wear. Fits the skull very closely.

Guess I'll have to mosey on over, empty out that jar of teeth and compare the new jaw teeth with I have in there.

It's progress.

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There really isn't much in the way of difference between Bison and Bos dentition, especially if you are looking at an isolated tooth. The differences you see between any two specimens are more likely due to ontogenetic stage and wear, than to differences which hold up between species. That is one of he reasons why Skinner and Kaisen, in their monograph on the Alaskan fossil Bison, used a detailed set of wear-stages - something many people have ignored.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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Thank you for your interest. For my experience the study you mention may yet be a bit advanced. I've become rather focused on the isolated stylid, thinking the bison to be more pronounced. Perhaps the mineralized ones I've collected are the only real bison I've found. I've used those seeking comparison points vs the bos. The difference may really be in the individual rather than between the species. At a minimum I've figured out where most of the teeth would have gone in order on ole bossy. I guess I'm still learning too much to know so little.

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It often surprises people new to the hobby, when they learn that the professionals can't necessarily identify every tooth to species - but an appreciation of the range of variation in living animals is important to cultivate. Lack of such appreciation is why, in the history of paleontology, many workers named a new species on every single fossil they found, identifying incredibly minor differences as indicating that the animal must be different from other known species. Some people who should know better want to provide a specific identification for every specimen they are shown - but that simply isn't always possible, especially when working from photographs.

But your approach is the right way to go - get modern specimens, and try to get a feeling for how much variation there is.

Constantly compare.

It takes a lifetime.

Rich

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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Rich makes a good point. I'm also alarmed by the desire to have a precise ID for everything even when what can be seen doesn't justify that level of confidence. I'm also on another site where collectors of artefacts frequently find coincidental teeth from undetermined jaw positions that they invariably want to be bison (and many folks jump in with that as a "confirmation") when the diagnosis could never say anything more than bovid.

Incidentally, an isolated stylid (if present) - as opposed to a prominent one - is a good indicator for bison molars but the absence of that doesn't negate the possibility of bison.

It's also worth remembering how different juvenile or milk teeth can be from their permanent replacements. And pathological teeth that may bear no resemblance to normal healthy ones are much more common than people believe. Ask any dentist!

Roger

I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling]

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