Harry Pristis Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I find horse teeth confusing and difficult. In the past, I've relied on museum IDs. Here's a pair of three-toed horse teeth for which I have a reliable ID. Who here can put a genus and species name to the pair? Hint: There are distinctive diagnostic features if you know what to look for. A Golden Kudo to him or her that can give us the correct ID. 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...
jpevahouse Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 When the enamel has heavy wear it often changes the appearance of the enamel ridge patterns. That tooth has characteristics of early horses like the small size and curve but whether it has a protocone or protoloph is unclear . The ridge pattern, which looks heavily worn, appears closer to equus but I doubt it's equus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 The diagnostic features are not obscured by wear. Here's a diagram with terms that might be useful in following the thread: 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...
Plantguy Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Hi Harry. Looking forward to learning quite a bit thru this thread...the photo and diagram are great starters. thanks. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhounensis Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Neohipparion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Neohipparion is a reasonable guess. Which species do you think it is? To help me guide this and the next quiz to the best answer, what characteristics led you to guess Neohipparion? Anyone else want to try? It's not like this species was restricted to Florida. "During the late early Hemphillian, [this horse] is known only from the southeast Gulf Coastal Plain (Florida and Alabama). During the late Hemphillian, its range expanded west to include all of Texas, north to Nebraska and possibly North Carolina, and south to central Mexico. Possibly known from California, but diagnostic material has yet to be found on the West Coast. The type locality is [in Texas]." This horse species became extinct at the Hemphillian-Blancan boundary, about 4.5 Ma. So, don't give up. Genus and species for a Golden Kudo. 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...
PFOOLEY Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Hesperohipparion stirtoni "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Harry, These are not easy to differentiate, but how about Nannippus peninsulatus ? The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 No, sorry. I was trying to encourage 'calhounensis' without giving up the answer. It is Neohipparion eurystyle (Cope, 1893). 'Auspex' figured it out. He alerted me by PM to a weakness in my prompts that was too easy to exploit. Thank you, Chas. Anyway, 'calhounensis' got the correct genus, which in most cases is the best that can be expected. A Silver Kudo to 'calhounensis'! But, back to the teeth. There is a set of useful line-drawings on pp. 287 of Hulbert's book, THE FOSSIL VERTEBRATES OF FLORIDA. In those drawings, three diagnostic features are pointed out: The protostylid and the pli caballinid of the lower cheek teeth; and the metastylid of the uppers. ("pli" is French for "fold," so "pli caballinid" means "a fold in the enamel margin of the caballinid." At the Florida State Museum web-site, there is also a terrific account of this horse with better images than mine at: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/vertpaleo/fossilspeciesNeohipparioneurystyle.htm Thanks to those who participated. 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...
tmaier Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 'Auspex' figured it out. He alerted me by PM to a weakness in my prompts that was too easy to exploit. Thank you, Chas. Yes, I found that also. Back when I was a teacher I would use that method to scan for plagiarized papers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Maybe 'Pfooley' was a school teacher, too. He guessed one of the handful of earlier synonyms (Hesperohipparion stirtoni) mentioned on the FSM page. Sorry I missed that earlier. 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...
calhounensis Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 I was away from my computer yesterday or I would have tried for a species too. My reasoning was based off of Hulbert's book. The protocone on the upper was the big giveaway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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