ayla42 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 (edited) Hello, I found this on the beach in cape cod about 20 years ago. I looked online it kind of looks like a whale tooth. But this one has the edge like halfway trough. I think it's half teeth and half bone? Thanks, Edited August 5, 2013 by ayla42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The crown is covered in hard enamel (the enamel crown) while the open root is all dentin. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayla42 Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 The crown is covered in hard enamel (the enamel crown) while the open root is all dentin. Do you have any idea what kind of animal it's from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkpantherbeekeeper Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Cool find whatever it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The thick enamel rules out sperm whale tooth. Maybe Orca? Here's a reproduction from the Skulls Unlimited website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The thick enamel rules out sperm whale tooth. Maybe Orca? Here's a reproduction from the Skulls Unlimited website orcatooth.jpg When I think of Orcas I think of the West coast. I looked up their habitat and found "Killer whales are found in all oceans and most seas." Wow, that was really surprising to me. So there definitely could be an Orca off of Cape Cod. However, I don't know that I would rule out sperm whale. Check out the video in the article at the below link. Especially look at the modern sperm whale tooth in the video. The tooth winding up on Cape Cod might be the result of all the whaling years ago. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10461066 Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Two things rule out sperm whale: 1) it has enamel, which Physeter doesn't have, and 2), it is anteroposteriorly compressed, which suggests its a large bodied delphinid. Now, it will probably not be possible to separate between Orcinus and Pseudorca (false killer whale), but it is definitely one or the other. It is almost assuredly modern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Two things rule out sperm whale: 1) it has enamel, which Physeter doesn't have, and 2), it is anteroposteriorly compressed, which suggests its a large bodied delphinid. Now, it will probably not be possible to separate between Orcinus and Pseudorca (false killer whale), but it is definitely one or the other. It is almost assuredly modern. Can you check out the video in the article at the below link? Is the other tooth in the video really a modern sperm whale tooth as stated? What is the tip of that tooth? It looked like enamel and that is what really confused me. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10461066 Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayla42 Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 I looked at all of the things described, but nothing looks like the thing I found though.. because mine has an obvious edge on it. these all look smooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I looked at all of the things described, but nothing looks like the thing I found though.. because mine has an obvious edge on it. these all look smooth Bobby's answer (post #7) can be taken to the bank. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) Whale teeth are difficult to attribute to genus for a variety of reasons. Like most predators, tooth whales have a variety of different shaped teeth. Whales, like all mammals shed juvenile teeth so teeth can vary a lot in size. Also, almost impossible to tell the age of a tooth unless found in situ in a known formation...a tooth could be modern or Pleistocene and possibly not a lot of difference in preservation between the two depending on the variables at work. Here are a couple of Sperm whale like teeth I've collected. Identified by a researcher at the oceanographic institute in Nova Scotia...not my area of knowledge. One a definite fossil and one either modern or a recent geologically. Your teeth 'sort of' fit in the pattern of juvenile toothed whales. These two are adults. Edited August 6, 2013 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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