Wolf Jaw bone?

[JJT3]

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

[Frightmares]

Looks modern. You could try a burn test to see if it is indeed fossilized.

[Shellseeker]

Can you measure the largest tooth..  That is a good way to differentiate between Wolf and coyote or dog.

[Harry Pristis]

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:

 

[Brandy Cole]

Looked like it compares well with the coyote jaw I have.

[Meganeura]

Thirding coyote - modern, too, if I had to hazard a guess 

[JJT3]

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. 

 

[diginupbones]

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  

[Meganeura]

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. 

[diginupbones]

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