Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Hi I found these in a river in central Ohio. Was wondering if anyone could tell me more about the fossil and if the other is teeth perhaps? If so who they may had belonged to? I know pics are poor on teeth pic I don’t really want to touch them too much ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Teeth?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 The photo is a bit blurry to make out (remember to place the object on a surface and focus on the object, not the background). If I had to guess, it looks like the impression of a high-spired gastropod, like Turritella. The second piece looks like a tooth, but it could also be modern. 3 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 The other piece looks like a cow tooth. 3 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echinoid Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 The second specimen is a modern horse tooth, I think 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 First piece for me looks like boring holes. The teeth seem bovine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 If you can take a new photo of the side of the first piece with the impressions outside in good light and make sure the camera (or phone) is focusing on the rock and not the background it would help for a better ID on that piece. Cameras can sometimes be very annoying when they choose not to focus on the item placed directly in front of them. Sometimes the item may be too close and end up inside the camera's minimum focus distance. Another attempt at that one would be helpful. The second tooth is definitely bovine. Now the trick is to decide if it is modern or older and mineralized. If it is modern then it would be from cattle (Bos taurus). If older, it would likely be from one of the species of Bison that widely roamed the plains (before we got here). We find ancient Bison teeth in the Peace River down here in South Florida but we always have to be on the lookout for modern "fakers". If the tooth seems very light for its size (not permineralized) or seems way too white and recent, then it likely was from some poor cow who died and and who's bones have mixed in with the fossils in the river. I once found over half a dozen cow teeth while sifting for fossils in the Peace River. One technique you can try is to see if there is still a lot of protein in the tooth. Hold a match (or lighter) to a corner of the tooth. If you smell a rather disgusting smell (like burning hair) then it is more likely to be modern. Much older teeth have lost their protein which is replaced with minerals and you won't get a smell using this test. Older teeth that have mineralized will be more dense. Tapping against a hard surface may reveal clues to its age as well. If it rings more like a piece of china then it is likely more mineralized--if it sound flatter, then it is likely more modern. Hope this helps a little. Welcome to the forum! Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Trying to get clearer pics- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 New one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Last one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Nice! You got there in the end and proved that your camera is capable of taking sharply focused images of small items. The one on the neutral white background is probably your best. Now we'll just have to see if someone with experience in Ohio fossils can make anything out of this. An impression from a gastropod (snail) shell was a reasonable guess but I'm not so sure now that we have clearer images. I'll let the experts weigh in on this. Now, you'll have to let us know the result of the flame test on the tooth to see if you have cow or bison. Funny how an ancient fossilized bison tooth is a really cool find but a nearly identical cow tooth is somehow just a bit creepy. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Isn’t that the truth about the teeth??? I’ll do the test but I’m not going to lie- they sort of make me squeamish!!! I’m happy the pictures are better but I didn’t use my camera. I had to borrow someone else’s because mine just will NOT focus properly. Fingers crossed for some information on the possible fossil!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echinoid Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I think the first specimen is a fossilised crustacean burrow, or some other sort of ichnofossil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I too am leaning away from the nice spiraled form of a gastropod shell--seems too irregular and "lumpy" for that. May just remain a mystery. Let us know if you get up the courage to take a flame to the tooth (or better yet convince someone else to do it for you). If the odd rock turns out not to have anything identifiable and the tooth turns out to be from a modern cow then you might have struck out on your first fossil attempts. On the positive side you've discovered a great little treasure on the internet--The Fossil Forum (TFF). We're a welcoming sort with lots of information archived here. Have a look from the home page at the section of the forum for your state or do some searches in the search box at the top of the forum. You'll likely discover some TFF members in your area or even learn of a fossil club nearby. Fossil hunting is a fun (and addictive) passtime and you may find you enjoy it when you start finding interesting little clues from the long distant past hiding in the rocks in your area. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I see a isolated stylid on the tooth. Making it a bovid tooth of some type. 1 Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 Bovid means it’s diseased right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 7 minutes ago, Becky Benfer said: Bovid means it’s diseased right? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovidae 2 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Ok I did it ......ugh!!!! I’m showing a pic as proof! Haha! But all I could smell was the burning match, nothing else. Is there anything else I should do? Did I burn the correct end?? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Benfer Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 If you smelled no 'burning hair' smell it may not have any protein left and may be more ancient than it looks. I'm assuming the black soot from the match simply wiped away from the tooth and that there was no actual scorching to the tooth? Mineralization would then indicate this to be more likely from an ancient bison rather than a modern cow. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 The most difinative test will be to pop it in your mouth and let us know the degree of nastiness in the taste. If it tastes like freshly burnt cow slobber, it's likely modern. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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