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Hi forum,

I recently acquired what is supposedly a tusk from a gomphothere collected in Bosnia. It does look to be same shape and relatively the same size as other tusks I've seen, but you be the judge.

I've never seen a gomphothere tusk available anywhere before this one. Are they uncommon to find?

Thanks!

Lauren

post-15415-0-77166300-1422142362_thumb.jpgpost-15415-0-17519000-1422142375_thumb.jpgpost-15415-0-04571600-1422142384_thumb.jpgpost-15415-0-87079000-1422142399_thumb.jpgpost-15415-0-67399900-1422142414_thumb.jpg

"I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson

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Looks good to me.

Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition.

Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher

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That is 100% fossil ivory. Nice piece! I would say it looks like a Gomp tusk, but i can't confirm, sorry.

~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
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As fossilized6s points out - fossil ivory. The Schreger lines are visible in the "end" photo, #4. The shape shown there is also very much like that of the Gomphothere piece I have. I don't know if that shape's completely diagnostic or if another tusk bearer may also have it.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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I cannot speak about all gomphotheres, but some species here in the USA have distinctive enamel strips on their tusks. That is, the enamel does not wrap completely around the tusks (as in mastodonts), though there is some enamel (unlike mammoths). Here is an example:

post-42-0-56022400-1422218370_thumb.jpg post-42-0-26339300-1422218399_thumb.jpg

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Wow, that's really interesting. Thanks for the information, Harry. As it turns out, the tusk I have has strips on the surface very similar to the photos you provided.. I had thought they were just signs of natural wear, but now I know it's the enamel. Thanks again.

"I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson

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