Strange whale or dolphin tooth

[sharkdoctor]

This tooth has me stumped. I'd love to have your thoughts. Is it from a ziphiid? Something else? Any chance it isn't cetacean? 

It was found in the Eastover Formation in eastern Virginia.

[Harry Pristis]

I have a similar tooth from the Bone Valley phosphates in South Florida.  When I put it in my drawer in the 1980s, it was as an unidentified odontocete.

[Miocene_Mason]

Looks like a sperm whale tooth to me. Any ideas @Boesse?

[FossilsAnonymous]

@MarcoSr

[Harry Pristis]

Here is my specimen.

 

I have this WAG that this is a leading tooth in the prognathous jaws of a platinistid dolphin. 

 

 

[sharkdoctor]

@Gizmo

[Gizmo]

2 hours ago, sharkdoctor said:

@Gizmo

Sorry, no clue.

 

[siteseer]

We find teeth like that in the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed too - chunky roots with a small crown.  It's a whale for sure and maybe one of the "archaic dolphins" as Harry is saying.

[sharkdoctor]

@siteseer @Harry Pristis Thanks for the thoughts. In this photo, it's hard to see, but the crown is nearly perpendicular to the root. It's almost as if you took Harry's tooth and rotated the crown to be at nearly a 90 degree angle to the root mass.

 

BTW, Harry, I am super impressed that you had instant recall to a mystery find from the 1980's 

[Shellseeker]

@sharkdoctor

Bobby identified similar but slightly smaller teeth in this thread: Might be worth checking out...

[sharkdoctor]

Yes!!! That sure looks like a winner! Thanks for the post @Shellseeker

 

@Metopocetus