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Hello, I'm new to the site. Recently, I found what I thought was a petrified banana in a creek bed. However, someone told me this is a Smilodon tooth, but it measures about 6 inches in length, and not quite two inches at the widest. I'm still betting on a banana:) Any assistance is greatly appreciated!

I found 2 of these when I put in a septic system along with crynoid calyxs, nautilus, and ammonite peices. Wouldn’t expect to find anything like this here.

Here’s an interesting one. I docent at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, and while I was talking to some visitors one of them gave me a piece of bone fragment his father found (among many other easier to identify pieces) at the tar pits before the museum was created. I have showed to some of the researchers at la Brea, and their guess was that it was a tibia fragment from some mammal. So far based on my own comparisons, it seems closest to a dire wolf, but if anyone else has any other ideas, I’d love to hear them. Thanks!

I would like to share my new fossil. It is one that truly tells a story and fills in missing pieces of information in the history of the evolution of Ancient Cat-like animals. The fossil itself is rare, but it possesses many features that help us understand these amazing animals. Pogonodon Platycopis A long time ago in a galex… I guess that really doesn’t work here. It is much closer to home. Millions of years before members of the cat family (felidae) evolve into the famous saber-tooths, a primitive group of carnivores, now extinct, had already adapted themselves to this specialized niche. These were the Nimravids, which diversified into many of the specializations we see in living felids. In addition to developing a saber-toothed morphology, Nimravids had invaded the predatory niches occupied by todays Bobcats, Leopards, Lions, and Cheetahs. Based on fossils dating from the Eocene of North America, approximately 40 million years ago, the Nimravids had already acquired many of the diagnostic features of the feline family. These ancestral species had already developed small chin flanges, small lower canines, reduced dentition and many other incipient characteristics associated with smilodonty (could be a made-up word). The Oligocene provided ideal conditions to develop and perfect forms such as Dinictis, Hoplophoneus, Nimravus, Dinaelurus and Pogonodon. They evolved, survived, and flourished. During most of the Oligocene Epoch, Dinictis species were widespread and diverse, and ranged in size from a Bobcat to a Leopard. Near the end of the epoch, certain populations of Dinictis gave rise to extreme hyper-developed forms. One of them was Pogonodon, which evolved into a top super-predator. The decline of hyaenodonts during that time may have allowed species of Pogonodon to evolve into a larger, more dominant, saber toothed type of carnivore. The current fossil record indicates that the evolutionary history of Pogonodon is restricted to the Late Oligocene of North America. Features of this skull also indicate that like modern lions, Pogonodon may have lived in groups or prides consisting of many individuals who hunted and fed together. This skull of a very old individual has teeth, which in many cases, are worn down to nothing more than nubs. The condition of these teeth would have made it very difficult for the animal to have hunted and killed other creatures and suggest that it may have just participated in group feedings after the hunt. Unlike most animals, the upper teeth of Pogonodon have an inward curve and continued their growth until the animal died, or the teeth fell out. The lower teeth had an outward curve, causing them to constantly rub against the top teeth, creating an efficient way to keep the teeth sharp over the animal’s lifetime. These features are visible clearly in the teeth of this animal. The teeth have been worn down past the enamel and the molars are still sharp. One tooth has been exposed to the root, and the curve can be plainly seen. At one point, this was believed to only be a feature present in hyaenodonts. This Pogonodon skull also sports a distinctive canine that was broken off at some point in life, and then used and worn down extensively to gain a polished and rounded tip. The skull is also mussing a number of teeth that were lost during life and the bone in the law has partially or completely filled in the root spacing. This indicates that this was indeed a very old animal indeed. It took me some time to acquire and authenticate this skull, but I had suspicions for quite some time.

I just thought I would share the Journey of my two most recent Saber Toothed Pseudo-Cats (Nimravidae). The first is Hoplophoneus. I got this cat and most people would not even recognize it, but I knew it had potential. Here are the origional pics I took before undergoing the restoration process.