wellwellwell Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 hello friends! I like many folks am fascinated by marine mammal fossils and I have learned a lot for the experience of the members of this forum. I wanted to get some opinions from the forum, both in terms of possible species Identification and potential explanation of condition. I found these 6 whale teeth in a very small patch of gravel, sifting in a river in southern Virginia. Other fossils where found in the same area, there is exposed formation on the river bottom, not sure quite what formation. most fossils seem to be Miocene and Pliocene although some older teeth appear with frequency, though they are mostly heavily worked by the river, or from a heavily reworked layer. I found 5 these teeth on the same day, the sixth on the following trip to this spot. No identifiable “jaw-bone” material was found. The wear and preservation as well as proximity suggest to me these teeth are from the same animal, what do you think? I haven’t seen an example of whale teeth with this level of wear, I’ve got lots of prized bits an pieces that have deteriorated I presume after the animal died. Does this wear pattern seem consistent with an old animal? The longest tooth is a little over 150mm. the roots of the teeth seem distinctive, unlike other sperm whale teeth I’ve seen. Is this an anomalous feature that may aid in identification of a species? thank you all for your time! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 Very nice! Yes, large cetacean, and I agree that they are associated 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patelinho7 Posted September 17, 2023 Share Posted September 17, 2023 Amazing finds! Maybe keep an eye out over the course of a few storms for more to pop up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted September 17, 2023 Share Posted September 17, 2023 Impressive. These are really unusual... I have seen and found lots of whale teeth and none of them looked like these. Scaldicetus gets to this size, but the shape of the teeth is Odd. It is like the enamel tips were flattened against the top of the tooth. I will wait until @Boesse comments. 1 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellwellwell Posted September 17, 2023 Author Share Posted September 17, 2023 Thank you all for your comments, another friend who has a lot more experience than I has suggested that Scaldicetus as a genus, that may be as far as can be assigned. The base or the root of the tooth is seems very different than other sperm whale teeth I’ve seen… maybe this one was grubbing food off of the ocean floor for some reason and chewing on a lot of sand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted September 17, 2023 Share Posted September 17, 2023 Agreed on 1) sperm whale and 2) that they're associated. @Shellseeker's specimen is a Scaldicetus grade tooth. The associated teeth could be as well, since the crowns are worn away it's unclear if there was any enamel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellwellwell Posted September 17, 2023 Author Share Posted September 17, 2023 Thank you very much for your reply, does the shape of the root seem normal? I’ve not seen an example with anything similar other sperm whale teeth I’ve seen seem to have a large conical hole in the bottom. Is this aspect of the root typical, but often lost to time? Another question I had was in terms of aging the individual animal, I’ve seen in a previous post that with some accuracy the age of a whale may be assessed by counting the layers of a dentin in a tooth, it would seem these offer an opportunity to count the rings? Is there validity to this idea? I appreciate your thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andúril Flame of the West Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Those are some great finds! It is always thrilling to see some good finds from here in VA. I look forward to seeing what else you might uncover from that gravel patch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellwellwell Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 Thanks for the comments and compliments! This has been one of my best/ most exciting finds. I haven’t been back to this spot because when last in the area my buddy and I were approached by an overly curious/playful/ maybe troubled otter who wouldn’t be scared away. Navigating the low water it followed is for 1/2 a mile downstream biting at canoe paddles, never seen an otter do this… it did, in a playful manner, bite my ankle. I did, in an embarrassed manner, go get a rabies shot. Sometimes the living parts of these special places are good reminders when we have taken to much? I’d love to get back there, but I got told to wait… no otter super powers yet either… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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