RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Mammals make up the bulk of my knowledge, but for this specimen I'm clueless. I'm thinking from the locality and the general look of the tooth it could be whale of some sort, possibly a dolphin? Allegedly it was found in Bakersfield California, Shark-tooth hill. I don't own this fossil so these pictures are the best I can get unless I purchase it, what do you guys think it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Looks to be an Odontoceti tooth to me though I am no expert by any means. I would be surprised if you can go beyond that as an ID, though others here have way more knowledge. @Boesse might be able to help. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilsAnonymous Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Definitely some sort of toothed whale. On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 14 minutes ago, FossilsAnonymous said: Definitely some sort of toothed whale. Yep! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 17 minutes ago, FossilsAnonymous said: Definitely some sort of toothed whale. Looking for a more specific classification, I figured it belonged to a toothed whale. Thanks for your comment though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 1 hour ago, RyanDye said: Looking for a more specific classification, I figured it belonged to a toothed whale. Thanks for your comment though. I would be surprised if you can get a more specific classification than Odontoceti indet. Most of the cetacean teeth found at STH are not diagnostic to a genus or species, or at least that is what I understand. I have similar looking teeth and there is no genus assigned to them. There a number of small toothed whales at STH so it could be from one of several different animals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilsAnonymous Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, fossilsonwheels said: I would be surprised if you can get a more specific classification than Odontoceti indet. Most of the cetacean teeth found at STH are not diagnostic to a genus or species, or at least that is what I understand. I have similar looking teeth and there is no genus assigned to them. There a number of small toothed whales at STH so it could be from one of several different animals. @RyanDye this is my dilemma. 1 On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 2 hours ago, FossilsAnonymous said: this is my dilemma. Very few of the cetatean teeth from STH are diagnostic (to genus or species) because several genus had the same type of teeth, particularly the smaller ones. 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...
RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 3 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said: I would be surprised if you can get a more specific classification than Odontoceti indet. Most of the cetacean teeth found at STH are not diagnostic to a genus or species, or at least that is what I understand. I have similar looking teeth and there is no genus assigned to them. There a number of small toothed whales at STH so it could be from one of several different animals. 2 hours ago, FossilsAnonymous said: @RyanDye this is my dilemma. 5 minutes ago, ynot said: Very few of the cetatean teeth from STH are diagnostic (to genus or species) because several genus had the same type of teeth, particularly the smaller ones. That's true, it's hard to tell the difference when they're all the same structure. I ended up getting a nice Enchodus tooth with skull fragment attached instead of this for the same price. I suppose an ear bone would be more useful than teeth for whale identification. Thanks for all the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 38 minutes ago, RyanDye said: I suppose an ear bone would be more useful than teeth for whale identification. Bulla Periotics are very diagnostic to species level, periodics bulla not so much. 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...
RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 2 minutes ago, ynot said: Bulla are very diagnostic to species level, periodics not so much. Periodics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 11 minutes ago, RyanDye said: Periodics? Cetaceans have more than one ear bone and periodics are one. I have had some luck getting ID's from bullas but @ynot is correct, periodics are usually more diagnostic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 11 minutes ago, RyanDye said: Periodics? Sorry dyslexia got Me again... Should be "periotic" Got the groupings backwards also. Periotic are diagnostic and bullae are not. 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...
RyanDye Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 1 minute ago, ynot said: Sorry dyslexia got Me again... Should be "periotic" Got the groupings backwards also. Periotic are diagnostic and bullae are not. 1 minute ago, fossilsonwheels said: Cetaceans have more than one ear bone and periodics are one. I have had some luck getting ID's from bullas but @ynot is correct, periodics are usually more diagnostic. No worries, (I didn't know what the word was when you said it right either) The actual ear bones certainly would be better than the casing, that makes perfect sense. Whale auditory adaptions for life underwater is a very interesting subject, I should know ear bones by now I guess I've got to get the flashcards back out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 The tooth might be Aulophyseter. Look at this thread- http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/11579-sharktooth-hill-virtual-museum/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Ding ding ding! Thanks @Al Dente - it is a physeteroid tooth, and a tooth like this have been reported in association with an Aulophyseter mandible (sadly, not in the alveolus). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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