BC Derek Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Hello. Brand new to the forum. Found this specimen on a beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I have approached a number of paleontologists and amateur fossil hunters about its identity. Responses have varied between being from a smaller toothed whale to a walrus. My dentist questioned it being a tooth because the shape is tapered at the wrong end and thought it may have broken off. He suggested it may be a horn of some kind. I am new to this! Would appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Welcome to the Forum. Can we see a straight on shot of the "chewing surface"? Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Derek Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Thanks Tim. Have attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 I lean toward broken and eroded walrus tusk, root end. "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 I do not know what this specimen is, but I'll bet @Boesse can tell you. BTW Welcome to the Fossil Forum! Do you collect fossils (other than the specimen in question of course)? You live in a pretty good area, although the prime local site (McAbee) is unfortunately now off limits. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Derek Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Hi Don. Yes, I do, but I have to say I lean towards rock hounding. I was briefly the President of the Thompson Nicola Paleontological Society but the untimely deaths of our two founders (who also spearheaded the McAbee site) left us with a leadership vacuum and we had to shut it down. It is a shame that the BC government shut the site down to the public citing preservation of the fossil record. I am all for such conservation, but the site has just been moth-balled and the many elementary school students who did tours have been completely shut out. Seems to me its a dog-in-the-manger attitude from certain university paleontologists. Our requests to find a cooperative resolution with the gov't and the academics fell on deaf ears. A shame really. public education is how you build support for university level research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 1 hour ago, BC Derek said: Hi Don. Yes, I do, but I have to say I lean towards rock hounding. I was briefly the President of the Thompson Nicola Paleontological Society but the untimely deaths of our two founders (who also spearheaded the McAbee site) left us with a leadership vacuum and we had to shut it down. It is a shame that the BC government shut the site down to the public citing preservation of the fossil record. I am all for such conservation, but the site has just been moth-balled and the many elementary school students who did tours have been completely shut out. Seems to me its a dog-in-the-manger attitude from certain university paleontologists. Our requests to find a cooperative resolution with the gov't and the academics fell on deaf ears. A shame really. public education is how you build support for university level research. John Leahy was a member here (you can search for "jbswake" to find his posts) and he communicated a wealth of information about McAbee and the trials and tribulations of dealing with the provincial government. We were all shocked and saddened to learn of his passing. We feared then that McAbee had lost its most passionate advocate, and the lack of movement on restoring some public access seems to show the consequence of that loss (although I doubt John would have been able to do much about it anyway). A certain fossil insect specialist wouldn't happen to be one of those dog-in-the-manger types by any chance? I see the Thompson Nicola Paleontological Society web site is still online, though it hasn't been updated in some time. I'm sad to hear the society has been shut down, it seemed like a good group of folks. Cheers, Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarrodB Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 I think tusk over tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Derek Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 That's starting to become a trend. Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 It's not walrus given that in the cross-section there isn't any globular dentine. There aren't any other tusked critters in the eastern North Pacific Pleistocene. The only other real candidates are elephant seal canine or a sperm whale tooth. Are there any middens around there? It has the look of a midden specimen that washed out and has been rolling around for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Derek Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 Thanks! Looks like I've come full circle, as sperm whale was my original hypothesis. Hadn't thought of seal canine so will have to research that a bit. As for middens, there may some be but we are prevented from gaining access to such sites by provincial and/or federal law. I found the specimen near the high tide mark and above that was heavy vegetation as far as I could see. The area was certainly populated back for thousands of years but is now mostly in a national park. No picking allowed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 The specimen is clearly waterworn; I was mostly implying that it may have washed out of a midden, not that it had been collected from one (in which case it would have been pristine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.