Tusk?

[Brondonh]

Just wondering if this was the end piece of a tusk and from what if so or is it just a normal tooth?

[Brondonh]

[Gizmo]

It looks like a piece of Gomphothere tooth.

[Shellseeker]

Really unusual piece!!! Thanks for sharing. First, I do not know what it is.. and may be wrong on any of these speculations.

I do not think it it gomph tooth because the outer enamel is relatively thin... a characteristic of rhino and I imagine lots of other mammals.

 

u

The composition is very interesting. 'round' tightly wrap inner core (dentine?) and then longitudinal bands (cementum??) between core and enamel heading toward the tip. That is somewhat similar to whale teeth.

Here is the end of a Rhynchotherium tusk, I do not believe yours is Gomph tusk.. and I do not see any of that longitudinal banding present in your find...

 

I think that yours may be marine, especially in your hunting grounds. I consider Walrus, but that is also not quite right. 

Time to seek others thoughts.

@Harry Pristis, @Boesse @jcbshark

 

If it is land mammal, Richard Hulbert will know what it is , by composition. You can look up the University of Florida Fossil Identification Service, and send your photos there.

[Boesse]

This is a heavily worn down sperm whale tooth, and you can even see those distinctive lines of growth on the exposed dentine 'core' of the tooth. I've labeled the cementum and dentine and the line demarcating them below, and have included a figure showing the range of dental wear in a single dentition of a Miocene sperm whale from Europe. If this was an elephant molar fragment, there should be a thin layer of enamel at the chewing surface - instead the occlusal surface is cutting through cementum and dentine, and there is a LOT of cementum - a sperm whale feature.

 

[Shellseeker]

Thanks Bobby, I would like to think that I could identify Florida Whale teeth,  but what threw me off....

1) Size..-it looks like this fragment might be 2 inches wide, @Brondonh, Please provide exact measurements, diameter, width of the "C" and "D" bands, length..

2) Enamel.. Instead of being just one the tip, it extends down the sides of the tooth.

 

Nice Find, learned somethings new here...

[Brondonh]

Wow you guys are awesome thank you. I will provide measurements this evening.

 

I was really thrown off on this one too. In this particular place I've found everything from dolphin teeth, croc, Megaldon, horse teeth and hoofs, so I was definitely curious about this one.

 

This place I go to never find an abundance of items, but whenever I do find something it's normally pretty unique.

 

Thanks again

[Brondonh]

On 7/28/2020 at 10:32 AM, Boesse said:

This is a heavily worn down sperm whale tooth, and you can even see those distinctive lines of growth on the exposed dentine 'core' of the tooth. I've labeled the cementum and dentine and the line demarcating them below, and have included a figure showing the range of dental wear in a single dentition of a Miocene sperm whale from Europe. If this was an elephant molar fragment, there should be a thin layer of enamel at the chewing surface - instead the occlusal surface is cutting through cementum and dentine, and there is a LOT of cementum - a sperm whale feature.

 

So measuring from the bottom like in the second image, C is 1.35" D is .55"

 

And the 3rd image the D is .70" 

C remained the same.

 

And just for and extra measurement from top to bottom it's 1.91"

 

Thanks hope this is informative.

 

[Brondonh]

On 7/28/2020 at 8:48 AM, Shellseeker said:

Really unusual piece!!! Thanks for sharing. First, I do not know what it is.. and may be wrong on any of these speculations.

I do not think it it gomph tooth because the outer enamel is relatively thin... a characteristic of rhino and I imagine lots of other mammals.

 

u

The composition is very interesting. 'round' tightly wrap inner core (dentine?) and then longitudinal bands (cementum??) between core and enamel heading toward the tip. That is somewhat similar to whale teeth.

Here is the end of a Rhynchotherium tusk, I do not believe yours is Gomph tusk.. and I do not see any of that longitudinal banding present in your find...

 

I think that yours may be marine, especially in your hunting grounds. I consider Walrus, but that is also not quite right. 

Time to seek others thoughts.

@Harry Pristis, @Boesse @jcbshark

 

If it is land mammal, Richard Hulbert will know what it is , by composition. You can look up the University of Florida Fossil Identification Service, and send your photos there.

Thanks for sharing the website, it's pretty helpful. I find part of the enjoyment of this hobby is discovering what I find and being able to identify items when out in the field.