ID HELP: TOOTH(?) FOSSIL FOUND; MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ

[Ame]

Hi, Fossil Folks! I’m a long-time dinosaur enthusiast (I even wrote a book for kids about ‘em!) but I’m TOTALLY new to fossils and a first-time poster—apologies if I make errors with this.

 

️I would LOVE ID help on this item I found last week on a beach in Monmouth County, NJ.

 

What do you think it might be?

(it’s flat, not round, I don’t see serrations but it’s obviously pretty worn, and I’m including photos of both sides and “top.”)

All opinions welcome and appreciated!
THANKS for looking/commenting!

[Ludwigia]

Just a rock I'm afraid.

[Kane]

I agree. One strong tell here is that teeth do not typically have vugs with crystal inclusions as seen in your piece.

[Shellseeker]

2 hours ago, Ame said:

Hi, Fossil Folks! I’m a long-time dinosaur enthusiast (I even wrote a book for kids about ‘em!) but I’m TOTALLY new to fossils and a first-time poster—apologies if I make errors with this.

 

️I would LOVE ID help on this item I found last week on a beach in Monmouth County, NJ.

 

What do you think it might be?

(it’s flat, not round, I don’t see serrations but it’s obviously pretty worn, and I’m including photos of both sides and “top.”)

All opinions welcome and appreciated!
THANKS for looking/commenting!

 Well,  Ame. Welcome to the fossil forum..  It is a great place for those addicted to fossils from around the world...

I want to warn you that I have a vivid imagination... Maybe there was a huge tooth, made of enamel plates with cementum sticking the plates together. 100000 years ago, a mammal dies, the body decays, leaving the teeth and bones. Large mammals step on the teeth,  eventually crushing them into small fragments... Then global warming hits, covering the land with the sea, One fragment shaped like a small tooth, gets washed and eroded rolling in the surf...  You walk along the beach and find that fragment of a much larger tooth laying in the sand....

I was out hunting yesterday and among my finds were many small fragments of Mammoth teeth....It is easy to see the dark outside of the cementum with directional lines and the layers of enamel tend to be lighter...

 

I note a couple of things about your fossil, which is much more worn than my examples.

Just above blue lines might be enamel ....

Just to the left of the red lines might be the directional lines of the cementum.

 

 

Here is a more complete Mammoth tooth that I found years ago...

 

 

 

I could be just imaging this,  but then I told you.. I have a vivid imagination

 

 

 

 

[Kane]

We wouldn't be as far as we are without your keen perspective, Jack.  

[grandpa]

Welcome to the forum Ame.

[Ludwigia]

Very astute observations, Jack, but to my knowlegde, there have been no mammoth fossils found as yet in Monmouth county. Mastodon yes, but no mammoths as far as I know.

[Ame]

THANKS, everybody, for your welcome and help and comments so far! 
 

KANE, you mentioned vugs—cavities in a rock lined with mineral crystals, right? (I’m just learning.) I shoulda mentioned—that’s sand from the beach, not embedded crystals, if that helps.

 

THANKS again, all!

[Kane]

You got it! Vugs are always kind of cool. Holes with crystal treasures! Sad to hear that it wasn't a vug, but just maybe this means it pushes the specimen closer to the tooth camp.  

[Shellseeker]

45 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Very astute observations, Jack, but to my knowledge, there have been no mammoth fossils found as yet in Monmouth county. Mastodon yes, but no mammoths as far as I know.

Thank you,  I depend on TFF expertise like yours , to pull me back to reality when I venture too far.

[Fossildude19]

53 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Very astute observations, Jack, but to my knowledge, there have been no mammoth fossils found as yet in Monmouth county. Mastodon yes, but no mammoths as far as I know.

 

 

@Ludwigia

 

Rare, but they are there -

See this recent post:

 

 

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

 

@Ludwigia

 

Rare, but they are there -

See this recent post:

 

 

Oha!

[Fossildude19]

@Carl

[Carl]

I'm not seeing a mammoth tooth fragment there but it certainly looks like the fish bone bits that are quite common on the NJ beaches. It's probably too worn and fragmentary to ever ID beyond that.

[Life Finds A Way]

Just a guess but it could be an enchodus jaw fragment, since the striations look similar to how enchodus jaw parts look as they wear.

[Ame]

THANKS for your reply! I’d reached out to a local fossil hunter here in NJ, and they thought the same thing! I think that’s kind of AMAZING that we likely found an ancient fish beastie’s tooth, and I’ve thought about this every time we’ve had fish for dinner since! HA! :) !