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Is this a broken mastodon cusp?


cayosusa

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Hi. I've never gone fossil hunting in the USA so I'm not 100% sure what it is but looking at the thickness of the enamel I think you could be correct that it's part of a Mastodon tooth.

Daniel

Edited by Strepsodus
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Yes, it is a piece of Mastodon tooth cusp (loph).

The thickness and texture of the enamel 'rind' is the tell.

post-423-0-18005200-1465325842_thumb.jpg

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"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Very cool. I would not have known that if I had found this, but I am pretty sure I would have kept it to find out what it was.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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Yup. Like Auspex said. Though it doesn't seem to be shown very well in your photos, the enamel "rind" is often has a pearlescent quality to it with fine striations. Once you learn to recognize this feature of mastodon teeth you can spot one from the smallest and most worn of fragments.

Nice find--I have yet to find a piece larger than your specimen as these teeth must be pretty brittle and fragment quickly in the river tumbling.

Cheers.

-Ken

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