Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) Ebony & Ivory. The specimen on the left is fossilized poop (edit: likely not coprolite afterall). The specimen on the right is a chunk of mammoth or mastodon ivory. In the second photo, notice the Schreger lines in the second photo by the red arrow. These are like Widmanstatten lines in an iron meteorite and they are diagnostic of proboscidean ivory. The angle and spacing of the lines varies according to species, and I am not yet fluent in reading these lines. Any idea if this is mastodon or mammoth? Best regards, MikeG Edited May 19, 2016 by Bone Daddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) http://periodicodimineralogia.it/2013_82_2/2013PM0014.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250196096_Schreger_pattern_analysis_of_Mammuthus_primigenius_tusk_Analytical_approach_and_utility http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/100/02/0249.pdf http://www.pasmartel.it/attachments/article/29/Mammuthus-Quat.pdf Edited May 19, 2016 by doushantuo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Try this TFF discussion also to see what you can learn: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/61737-mammoth-or-mastodon-tusk/ Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 I am being told now that the specimen on the left might not be coprolite. Are there any features that are considered diagnostic for coprolite? Re: the "poop" - The texture under magnification shows a couple of features that might be embedded micro-fossils or portions of other fossils. Although, I am sure these are also present in some concretions. I found this in a spot that was very fossiliferous and it didn't match the native rocks found in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) https://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php#elephant https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/resources/pub/E-Ivory-guide.pdf http://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology-spring-2013-zuowei-modern-fossil-ivories Edited May 19, 2016 by doushantuo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 From what I am seeing under magnification, this does not appear to be a 90-degree intersect, does that mean it is mastodon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 Thanks for the links! My crash-course in paleontology is moving along nicely thanks to the helpful members of this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) some more,but NOT on tusks: http://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_09/DSA9_009_Feretti_111-116.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/JR_Stone/publication/227809192_Fractal_dimensions_characterizing_mammal_teeth_A_case_study_involving_Elephantidae/links/54d288b50cf25017917e9701.pdf https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app48/app48-383.pdf tusk https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/4743/1/CT_15_19.pdf ecology of mammoth & gomphos: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271539857_Resource_partitioning_and_niche_separation_between_mammoths_Mammuthus_rumanus_and_Mammuthus_meridionalis_and_gomphotheres_Anancus_arvernensis_in_the_Early_Pleistocene_of_Europe http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/jaic32-03-003.html Edited May 19, 2016 by doushantuo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Your 'poop' did look a bit suspicious but I was waiting to see if others chimed-in on this. Looked to me like the oddly shaped phosphate pieces that I often find in the river--seem to come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 I am going to have to buy another memory card just for fossil references - one for meteorites and one for fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 (edited) I stand corrected about the poop apparently. Good to know. If it's phosphate, then that is good also, it can go into my mineral collection. I might need another specimen cabinet as well. LOL. Edited May 19, 2016 by Bone Daddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I wonder about the origin of the phosphate,though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 I agree with Ken, the specimen on the left has a little strange shape for a coprolite, but I'm not a coprolite specialist. In my opinion, it might be something close to a phosphate nodule or maybe ironstone structure. Look at the middle specimen of this picture, although these are from Australia. 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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