Jump to content

Bison tooth?


Scttrthm

Recommended Posts

Found this tooth today in northern Brown County in Nebraska.  Fully mineralized along a steam bank that was eroded by heavy rains this summer.  Found in a gravel layer about 8 feet below ground level

IMG_20161020_214831.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say bison is a good guess.

I am on my phone and have recently discovered it doesn't give me the best views, but it looks a bit narrow to be horse.

Any other info you can give us?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comment.  I really don't know anything more.  This area is fossil rich but this is the first tooth I ever found 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know a lot of Nebraska has White River formation, it is possible this tooth could be older than you think.

However...MOST of the White River formation teeth I have seen have a dark creamy colour. This seems more recent due to the lighter tones I see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, it's bovid alright.  It appears to me to be a deciduous tooth.

The question is whether it is from a bison or a cow.  Strictly a

guess, but I think it's from a cow.

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

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do you say that?

 

The OP thinks it's fully mineralized so would presumably, if that is the case, be older than cow. (Unless you don't mean domestic cow?)

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine

"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really appreciate all your discussions about this tooth.  I did last night take this fossil to the daughter of Morris Skinner as she is a friend.  She did identify it as a Pleistocene fossil but told me she was hesitant to say bison as her father never found a bison tooth here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Ash said:

Why do you say that?

 

The OP thinks it's fully mineralized so would presumably, if that is the case, be older than cow. (Unless you don't mean domestic cow?)

 

Well, notice that the tooth enamel is scrubbed of cementum, polished no doubt by stream tumbling.  The remaining enamel is a durable and stable mineral, so "fully mineralized" is meaningless.  The unaltered enamel could be ten years old or ten thousand; but, the gracile condition of the isolated stylid suggests to me a modern cow, a Bos calf.

 

If the friend can identify the tooth as a Pleistocene fossil, the tooth MUST BE from a bison.  If the tooth is from a cow, it MUST BE recent.  And, it must be one or the other.

 

 

bisonteethocclusalstylid.JPG

cow_cheekteeth.JPG

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

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again thank you so much for all of your comments and insights.  It is a fossilized tooth and I wish it could talk to me and tell me it's journey.  I suppose in a way it can, I am just not smart enough to listen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...