JJT3 Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 Hi Guys, On our hunt today for shark teeth my daughter found this jaw bone. It feels fossilized. Found in eastern NC in a stream that cuts through a lot of different ages including Pleistocene deposits. What do you guys think? Thanks, John Link to post Share on other sites
Frightmares Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 Looks modern. You could try a burn test to see if it is indeed fossilized. Link to post Share on other sites
Shellseeker Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 Can you measure the largest tooth.. That is a good way to differentiate between Wolf and coyote or dog. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Pristis Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 QUATERNARY CANIDS LENGTH OF m1 (lower carnassial) Canis lupus (avg. of 62 male individuals) …………………....… 28.53 mm Canis lupus (avg. of 47 female individuals) …………….…….… 27.07 mm Canis latrans (avg. of 22 Western individuals)……….………... 23.13 mm Canis rufus (avg. of 3 Eastern individuals) …….………….…... 26.60 mm Canis edwardii (avg. of 4 Western individuals) ….……………..24.65 mm Aenocyon (Canis) dirus (avg. of 15 Western individuals) ….…..35.33 mm adapted from: NORTH AMERICAN QUATERNARY CANIS Ronald M. Nowack Monograph Number 6, 1979 Univ. of Kansas Museum of Natural History Looks like dog or coyote to me. For comparison: 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Brandy Cole Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 Looked like it compares well with the coyote jaw I have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Meganeura Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 Thirding coyote - modern, too, if I had to hazard a guess Link to post Share on other sites
JJT3 Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 Sorry for the late reply, finally back home from vacation. Figured I would do a burn test first. The teeth look fossilized to me but the bone was questionable. I got almost no smoke at all and zero smell after about 10 seconds of a lighter flame. The largest tooth measures 24mm long X 15mm high. Looks like it falls into the coyote realm. Link to post Share on other sites
diginupbones Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 So I’m a little confused on this. I found this jaw bone about a year ago in North Central Nebraska. I always assumed it was coyote, definitely not fossilized looks modern but after reading this thread, I don’t know what to think of these measurements. A modern wolf in this area would be very very rare. Carnassial L=28.8mm. Canine is 47.5mm. @Harry Pristis @Shellseeker @Meganeura Link to post Share on other sites
Meganeura Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 7 hours ago, diginupbones said: So I’m a little confused on this. I found this jaw bone about a year ago in North Central Nebraska. I always assumed it was coyote, definitely not fossilized looks modern but after reading this thread, I don’t know what to think of these measurements. A modern wolf in this area would be very very rare. Carnassial L=28.8mm. Canine is 47.5mm. @Harry Pristis @Shellseeker @Meganeura It’s definitely modern - but you’re right, too big for Coyote. Could it possibly be Canis domesticus? I’m not sure how the teeth compare on a domestic dog versus a wolf. If not, it is in fact wolf over coyote. Link to post Share on other sites
diginupbones Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 I’ve done some more research on this and everything that I can find seems to point towards Wolf. Not likely in the middle of Nebraska but a few have been spotted over the years. if anyone has any other ideas or info it would be appreciated. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
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