Miatria Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I found this small piece of jawbone with 1 tooth in Florida's Alafia River on Friday. The jawbone segment measures 1.5" in length and the tooth is approx. 5/8" long by 1/4" wide at the widest point. The top of the tooth appears to be worn almost completely smooth. When I got home, I was rinsing the sand off the jawbone fragment when the tooth came free of its socket from the top, and a tiny shell of an unerupted tooth fell out of the bone from the bottom. Can anyone direct me towards an ID? Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Nice find! Are they rare where you are? I'm no help with the ID, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miatria Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 I can't speak to whether they are rare to the area but they are rare to me. :-) Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Can't help with the ID but WOW, Great find! I love teeth in the jaw!!! 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...
Harry Pristis Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Left, Right, and Occlusal views for mammal tooth 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...
Foshunter Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Definitely not a meat eater. Looks like a very worn Llama or deer molar, leaning to the deer side-----Tom Edited January 4, 2015 by Foshunter Grow Old Kicking And Screaming !!"Don't Tread On Me" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Looks interesting! Congrats. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 as Harry says, if we can get some oother views of the teeth.... that'd be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miatria Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 I believe the first 2 photos are the lingual side. Third photo is facial and last photo is occlusal. Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foshunter Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Looks like deer----Tom Grow Old Kicking And Screaming !!"Don't Tread On Me" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Given how worn that tooth is, and the fact that there was an unerrupted tooth beneath it, I'm guessing that the worn tooth is a dp4 - the deciduous 4th lower molar, which, in ungulates, is very much like the 3rd lower permanent molar - it has 3 lobes. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Miatria, I have a new possibility -- once again likely too large a mammal for your tooth -- http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/26375-mammal-molar/ See this link: http://www.blackriverfossils.org/MarineMammal/Metaxytheriumsp/tabid/53/Fossils/3738/Default.aspx and take a look at teeth & roots at this site: http://paleoenterprises.com/Manatees.htm The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miatria Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks for the suggestions, Shellseeker! The jaw is much more delicate than dugong. Probably deer and I will enjoy it as a visceral demonstration of the process of tooth replacement in ungulates. Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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