Mastodon or Gomphothere

[Hipockets]

Hello, My wife found this tooth or section of and not real sure what we have , it is Waccamaw formation from southeastern North Carolina, Pliocene/Pleistocene. it is about 2 inch dia. at the base and about 1/2 dia at smallest tip, about 2 inches tall. It has a smaller cusp? (for lack of better word) like feature attached also . Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

[Hipockets]

After reading prior discussions on this topic I am leaning toward gomph just based on mastodon photos I have seen are missing the cusp between the larger nodules?

[RickNC]

I would call it mastodon just based on my experience and looking at the ones I have found. But with that being said I have no experience with gompth.

[Hipockets]

So Rick, the ones you have found, they too have the smaller cusps between the larger nodules ?

[Harry Pristis]

Almost certainly a gomphothere fragment.

[abyssunder]

I also would choose the latter, because for me looks that there is a bunodont not a lophodont pattern characteristic for gomphotheres or the zygodont pattern of mammutids. Bunodont teeth consist of a certain number of cone-like elements arranged in several transverse ridges (loph(id)s). Also typical to bunodont teeth are cones (so-called conules) in the transverse valleys, blocking them in the middle part. The bunodont pattern is characteristic for gomphotheres, amebelodons and choerolophodons. In zygodont cheek the transverse ridges are transformed to sharp crests or ridges. The valley-blocking conules are reduced or lacking.

Edited March 21, 2016 by abyssunder

[Plax]

Gomphotheres went out just prior to Waccamaw time but that shouldn't keep your specimen from being one. Meg teeth are common as are other strong or resistant bioclasts in the basal Waccamaw despite not living in Waccamaw time.

[Auspex]

Gomphotheres went out just prior to Waccamaw time but that shouldn't keep your specimen from being one. Meg teeth are common as are other strong or resistant bioclasts in the basal Waccamaw despite not living in Waccamaw time.

Thanks, I was wondering about the temporal issue.

[Harry Pristis]

Gomphotheres went out just prior to Waccamaw time but that shouldn't keep your specimen from being one. Meg teeth are common as are other strong or resistant bioclasts in the basal Waccamaw despite not living in Waccamaw time.

I don't know what you mean by Waccamaw time, so I check the currently accepted span of the Waccamaw Fm. Cuvieronius, the last of the gomph's, was still around in the early to middle Pleistocene.

When: Waccamaw Formation, Early/Lower Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.8 Ma) [from Fossilworks]

The oldest fossil remains to date are of Cuvieronius species found in Lincoln County, Nevada, which date to an accurate 4.6 million years ago (AEO). It was also found as far east as South Carolina and North Carolina from 1.81 million—126,000 years ago. In Florida, remains show both Cuvieronius sp. and C. tropicus living from 3.7—1.5 million years ago (AEO).[7] The most recent findings of Cuvieronius sp. in North America are in Sonora, Mexico, with findings dated at 13,390 BP.[8] [from Wikipedia]

[abyssunder]

" A member of the Stegomastodon - Haplomastodon group of gomphotheres of Pliocene and Pleistocene times in North and South America (Tobien,1973:243), Cuvieronius is known from North American localities primarily in the western United States and in Florida. Remains of this relatively rare proboscidean have been reported from Blancan deposits in Arizona (Kurten and Anderson, 1980:348) and Florida (Webb and Dudley, 1995), from Irvingtonian beds in Texas (K. and A.) and Florida (Webb, 1974a:18, Table 2.1; Webb and Dudley, 1995:648), and from Rancholabrean faunas in Texas (Kurten and Anderson, 1980:348).
Apparently the first known record of Cuvieronius from the early Pleistocene of North Carolina, an upper right second molar of that gomphotere was collected from the Shallotte querry pit near Shallotte, Brunswick Co., NC by Cindy Evans in 1985. The specimen was identified at the National Museum of Natural History but was retained by the collector. However, casts of it are in that institution (USNM 391982) and at The Charleston Museum (ChM PV 4894). The tooth evidently came from the Waccamaw Formation, the only Pleistocene unit in the section at the Shallotte pit (personal communication, Robert W. Purdy, April 1997).
Gomphoteres have not been reported previously from South Carolina, the first recognized specimen being a well-preserved lower left third molar (cast, ChM PV4885, Figure 54b) found in July 1982 by Darren Sarine in the Ten Mile Beds (Late Middle Pleistocene) in the bank of a ditch on the north side of the site of an excavation of the Chandler Bridge Formation (Late Oligocene) conducted by The Charleston Museum from 1970 to 1972 (Sanders,1980). (....) The specimen was determined as a left m3 of Cuvieronius by Clayton E. Ray, and casts were made for The National Museum of Natural History (USNM 336372) and Charleston Museum (ChM PV4885) collections. (...)
The North Carolina and South Carolina specimens may be referable to Cuvieronius tropicus, reported from the Early Pleistocene Leisey Shell Pit of Florida (Webb and Dudley, 1995:648). (...)

Chronostratigraphically, the various taxa are distributed as follows:
Early Pleistocene (Early Irvingtonian)
Waccamaw Formation, upper bed:.... Cuvieronius sp. [North Carolina] ...
Middle Pleistocene (Late Irvingtonian)
Ten Mile Hill Beds:....... Cuvieronius sp. ...
Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean)
Wando Formation : ... Cuvieronius sp. ... "

Additions to the Pleistocene Mammal Faunas of South Carolina, North Carolina, & Georgia - Albert E. Sanders

Edited March 21, 2016 by abyssunder

[Hipockets]

Thanks everyone, abyssunder your last post is interesting because the fragment my wife found did indeed come from Brunswick County, not the Shallotte local however.

[Hipockets]

sorry, I am wrong the fragment was not found in Brunswick County but the adjacent county Columbus.

[Plax]

I don't know what you mean by Waccamaw time, so I check the currently accepted span of the Waccamaw Fm. Cuvieronius, the last of the gomph's, was still around in the early to middle Pleistocene.

When: Waccamaw Formation, Early/Lower Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.8 Ma) [from Fossilworks]

The oldest fossil remains to date are of Cuvieronius species found in Lincoln County, Nevada, which date to an accurate 4.6 million years ago (AEO). It was also found as far east as South Carolina and North Carolina from 1.81 million—126,000 years ago. In Florida, remains show both Cuvieronius sp. and C. tropicus living from 3.7—1.5 million years ago (AEO).[7] The most recent findings of Cuvieronius sp. in North America are in Sonora, Mexico, with findings dated at 13,390 BP.[8] [from Wikipedia]

As I mentioned earlier older fossils are found in the basal Waccamaw lag and would be attributed to that formation and would be technically accurate. I have seen a Plesiosaur vert with Waccamaw epis in the Donoho Creek / Waccamaw lag. Was using the general range of gomphotheres from wikipedia which says they were abundant in the Miocene and Pliiocene. I see that there were Pleistocene occurrences but again, was using the general time range. Waccamaw time is early Pleistocene since 2009? when they changed the chronological range of the Pliocene. There are two Waccamaws though; an upper and lower, so guess it could go to mid Pleistocene.

I collected the Todd brothers pit in Shallotte extensively from the 70s until it closed. There was also Upper Goose Creek Limestone there which was the product rock excavated with macadam recycling equipment. The Upper goose Creek wasn't defined from the area until the Campbell paper in Tulane Studies came out in '99? Sorry for using the phrase "Waccamaw time". I thought it was understood to be the time range of a formation. Have seen the expression used in the literature previously for various formations. The term "Waccamaw Formation" has been abused in the literature extensively. The Cape Fear Region is rife with a patchwork of scour fills of various Pleistocene and Pliocene ages. One has to use lithology and index fossils to determine the formation. The Upper Goose Creek Limestone for instance doesn't have aragonitic preservation and usually has the characteristic mollusk Carolinapecten eboreas walkerensis.

[Harry Pristis]

I, too, was surprised when decades ago I learned of Cuvieronius. I've always felt a sense of loss when considering their fate -- last of an impressive lineage.