Jcwitte Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I found this in the sand right at the water of the Warren Dunes State Park beach. Maybe hard to tell from the photos, but there are definitely pores where the tooth would have broken off. There’s also a ridge that I am guessing shows where the tooth would have emerged from the gum line. I didn’t set that ruler up very well. It is just over a half an inch or 1.5cm long. From the ridge to the tip is about a 1/4 inch. And the width of the base is just over a 1/4 inch. My apologies if this is just some dog tooth or something from the last decade or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echinoid Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I think you have found a horn coral - could you please post some photos that are more focused and in better lighting? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Hi Jc, and welcome to the Fossil Forum. Your fossil is actually a solitary rugose coral, commonly called a horn coral. In the first photo I can see radial structures, which were the internal septa of the coral. Corals are typical fossils in rocks of the age found around Warren Dunes state park, which are too old for vertebrates with teeth. Because of their tapered conical shape horn corals are often mistaken for teeth. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcwitte Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 Thank you both... Here are a couple of more in focus photos. After googling the horn coral, I think you are both correct. What I read was it would have come rom the Permian era which was 250-298 million years ago. Much older than a dog's tooth from last decade. Thanks! Cool find... my first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 A cool find from the greater Chicagoland area. Welcome to the forum--hope you stay a while. Lots of interesting fossils up your way (it's been decades since I've been to the Warren Dunes). Search for "Mazon Creek" on this forum to see some of the great fossils that are probably less than an hour from where you live. Also, consider joining the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) if your first fossil find has kindled a passion to discover and learn more about the ancient clues to past life hiding all around you. http://www.esconi.org/ Cheers. -ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 19 minutes ago, Jcwitte said: Permian era w Or older! If I remember correctly the outcrops in your area are mostly Ordovician and Silurian. Old coral indeed! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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