Fossil Herbivore Jaw Found In The Ocean

[cathyweeast]

Hello, my name is Cathy and I was recommended to your site by Carl Mehling of the American Museum of Natural History. I found a jaw fragment in the surf on Holgate Beach in New Jersey. He feels that it may be from a bison or musk ox dating to the Ice Age. Does anyone have any further information? Thank you!

[edd]

I think possible Bison too...

Edited September 16, 2015 by edd

[glu]

it looks like a bos primigenius jaw fragment, the ancestral progenitor of the modern ox

[Harry Pristis]

Hi, Cathy . . .

Welcome to the forum.

Your find is certainly not musk ox, though I do think it is bovid -- either bison or cow (modern) -- as evidenced by the isolated stylids of the teeth. The fact there is cementum remaining on the teeth suggests to me that this is from a modern cow (cementum is preserved sometimes, but this looks quite fresh).

Good hunting!

[RichW9090]

There is a specimen of Bos primigenius known from a find along the shore at Brigantine, unpublished. I think the guy who found it is a member here, can't remember if it was here or another Forum I ran across him on some years ago. The Brigantine site is a peat bed just off shore maybe 100 yards or less, and storms wash fossils up onto the beach from time to time, although I haven't collected there in 30 years.

Edited September 17, 2015 by RichW9090

[bone2stone]

I agree with Harry, and it may be older than that ruler!!!

Take note that the phone# on the ruler only has 4 digits!!

Been a long time since I've seen that !!!

BTW: Nice when you find teeth still in boney jaw material.

Jess B.

[cathyweeast]

Thank you so much for your help. Modern or primigenius, it was a fun find!

[Harry Pristis]

_{It's not Bos primigenius, the auroch, Cathy. The range of the auroch never included New Jersey.}

_{Here's an account of the range of B. primigenius from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:}

_{Bos primigenius is Extinct. The aurochs had three subspecies: Bos primigenius primigenius from Europe and the Middle East; B. p. namadicus from India; and B. p. mauretanicus from North Africa. Only the nominate subspecies has survived until recent times.}

_{Originally the aurochs occurred from the British Isles and southern Scandinavia, through most of Europe to northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and India. By the 13th century A.D., the aurochs' range was restricted to Poland, Lithuania, Moldova, Transylvania and East Prussia (The Extinction Website, 2007). The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów (Jaktorowka) Forest, Masovia, Poland (Grubb, 2005).}

_{It is distributed worldwide under domestication (as Bos taurus), and feral populations have become established in Australia, New Guinea, the United States, Colombia, Argentina and many islands, including Hawaii, Galápagos, Hispaniola, Tristan da Cunha, New Amsterdam, Juan Fernandez Islands, and the United Kingdom (Chillingham cattle).}

Edited September 17, 2015 by Harry Pristis

[RichW9090]

As I said, there is a specimen of the auroch from the Brigantine site. It was identified by Roger Wood from Stockton College. It is unknown if this is the only record of B. primigenius from North America, or might have been something tossed into the sea - fossils do get lost. That's one of the reasons why Roger never published it, I suspect.