BenWorrell Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Hello! I found this mandible yesterday in a creek in Linn County, IA. It reminds me of a modern whitetail deer, but I'm not sure. One thing that stands out to me is that the middle tooth has three labial lobes. I have a modern whitetail doe adult to compare it too (see last picture), but only the end tooth has three labial lobes. Does that mean this isn't a whitetail deer or is that normal genetic variation? Total length of mandible (broken): 83 mm Thickness of mandible: 19 mm Width of tallest tooth: 20 mm Thickness of tallest tooth: 9.4 mm Thanks! @Harry Pristis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossillarry Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 it's a jaw fragment from a juvenile deer. the teeth are deciduous premolars 3and 4 and molar 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenWorrell Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 Thanks @fossillarry! I managed to find a very similar modern deer jaw fragment for comparison (photos below) and you are right, the last premolar does have 3 lobes. Is it possible to distinguish whitetail deer from say mule deer or elk? The tooth with 3 lobes on the modern deer is about 17mm wide and the tooth with 3 lobes on the fossil piece is about 24mm wide. Does anyone have a yearling mule deer to compare to? Thanks, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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