Dog?

[garyc]

 When I picked this up I assumed it was modern domestic dog. However, there is a little bit of cancellous bone on the labial side that does not feel spongy at all. It is fairly mineralized. I’ve tried comparing this between domestic dog and coyote And see similarities to both.  Please help if you can! 

[ClearLake]

I think trying to make that distinction is going to be very difficult.  As i’m sure you probably know, domestic dog skulls have an extremely high degree of variability. The jaw you have does look like a fairly “standard” canine (as opposed to some specialized breed) so it will look a lot like a coyote. It does look a little worn, where was it found?  It certainly has a patina which could suggest some age to it. But if buried even a bit or tossed around in a muddy river, I would think it could pick up that look pretty quickly. Very nice though, I always enjoy a good looking bone!

[garyc]

I totally understand what you mean about the variability in domestic dogs. I was hoping there might be some distinctive feature in the morphology of the bone to indicate definitively whether it was coyote or not.It was found in the Brazos River in Texas. I don’t think that it is very old, but it is pretty sturdy