Shellseeker Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 What a year -- and it is just starting. The Peace river is very deep with late heavy rains and draining of feeder lakes. It is also cold out there. So my normal fossil hunting buddies will not go out. I leverage these times to invite some friends or local club members who want to be introduced to new hunting grounds. I was out Monday and today -- Shivered a bit, even with a 3mm wetsuit. I found some decent fossils -- 3-4 small Megs, a couple of Armadillo osteoderms, a very nice camel Astragulas, an unusual terminal vertebra. and originally thought I would be posting one or more of these finds. Today I was hunting with a seasonal husband and wife from my local fossil club, who live most of the year in Northern Michigan and swim in Lake Superior -- so the Peace Rive in December is no problem. The husband went in with shorts and a tee-shirt!!!. On the very last sieve, his wife found this fossil, that I initially considered wood, then bone, and then I saw enamel....Longest point to point = 3.5 inches, around the outer circumstance = 4 inches. Sorry for the quality of the photos taken with a cell on the river. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Sperm Whale, maybe? "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...
Harry Pristis Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Looks like a bear canine . . . a polar bear, no doubt. 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...
fossilized6s Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Edit: well Congrats to her. Lol I was going to suggest Bear as well. Edited December 10, 2014 by fossilized6s ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) Looks like a bear canine . . . a polar bear, no doubt. Harry, My original thought was bear canine. I measured this one at the river. Because I have messed up measurements before (Smilodon-Atrox_Carnassial as example), I just called the finder and had then remeasure -- 3.5 longest straight line, 1.25 width of root, 4.0 on the circumference. So, even though it looks like bear, it is too big at a minimum of 88.9 mm. That is why like Auspex, I started thinking Whale -- what am I missing? Edited December 10, 2014 by Shellseeker The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calhounensis Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 That's a big bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Where do you find the information about 3.5" being too large for a Florida bear? I have a Black bear canine in my TEETH album that is over 3" long. Hulbert lists Ursus arctos from Florida, but there are other, more common bears with large teeth to be found. Whale teeth do not delaminate like that. 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...
sseth Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I dont see the scaling that you might expect with a whale tooth. I am not as farmiliar with Florida fauna but could it be Arctodus simus? I have very large teeth like that from here in the west. _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Harry, Found a couple of bear canines back in 2012, and they were each in the 70 mm range. In the TFF thread, you had a great picture of Tremarctos at 74.8 mm and black bear at 77.6 mm. So I got into my mind, a large black bear canine was about 3 inches in length. Then this one comes along and, even though broken, measures at 88.9 mm. Could not find a maximum size on Ursus Americanus, but did note some Romanian cave bear canines between 100 and 120 mm and figured grizzlies and polar bears could have teeth that sized. I now think that it can not be anything else besides bear -- It is worth a note to Richard to find out the variability of canine length in Florida bears. He is always interested in Peace River oddities. I will post what I find out. SS The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYAL Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Nice canine!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Got a quick response from Richard Hulbert: Most likely the bear Tremarctos floridanus. From Wikipedia: Tremarctos floridanus, occasionally called the Florida spectacled bear, Florida cave bear, or rarely Florida short-faced bear, is an extinct species of bear in the family Ursidae, subfamily Tremarctinae. T. floridanus was endemic to North America from the Pliocene to Holocene epoch (4.9 million — 11,000 years ago), existing for approximately 4.9 - 0.011 million years.[1] This is a unusual find for novice hunters -- I have some Black Bear canines, but still looking for my first Tremarctos. 1 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 "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...
Shellseeker Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thanks to Auspex and all who commented. I am feeling really good about being part of this find and identification. Sort of fits with the holidays: Searching the web, found this post with a lots of details on a Tremarctos found in a Florida cave and dated to 8000 years ago. http://shaggygod.proboards.com/thread/738 1 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Nice find! Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thanks for publishing your follow-up: this is how we can all learn! "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...
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