Largemouth Bass Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Found on a beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Height is approximately 1.3 cm / 0.5 in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 With the crown broken off as it is, this may be tough to ID. Certainly beyond my abilities. What is up with the hole in picture 2 and then in 3 it looks like it was bored into the tooth?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 4 hours ago, Largemouth Bass said: Found on a beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Height is approximately 1.3 cm / 0.5 in I want to make sure I understand. The 1st photo is one side of the tooth and the combination of root and enamel is 13 mm. The 2nd photo is the opposite side of the tooth, with damage to the enamel but not the root ? and the 3rd photo is the chewing surface ? What is the length and width of the chewing surface? As @ClearLake indicates , these are really hard to identify because most identifications depend almost completely on analyzing the chewing surface. So, I am going to speculate, which means almost no basis in fact, and if another member has a better ID, they are likely right. You found it on a beach, so I'll deal with the possibility that it is a marine mammal, which cuts down the possibilities a lot. There is a website named Phatfossils and the owner (3) hunts Lee Creek and posted this find from 2005... I wonder if it is possible to find Dugong fossils in Virginia.... Maybe @Al Dente knows. 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...
ted coulianos Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) If the tooth was found on the beach in Westmoreland Co, it may have weathered out of the Calvert formation which is prominent there; land mammal teeth have been very rarely found in the Calvert, probably the result of some dead carcass that floated offshore. Attached are photos of two mammal teeth that I found in the Calvert at Cheasapeake Beach, Maryland. Look somewhat "piggish/peccaryish" to my eye. (sorry, but the cm scale didn't photograph well; both are approx. 1.5cm high & 1cm wide). So, I wouldn't discount the possibility that your find is something very similar. Also, your tooth is probably Miocene (not Pleistcene) in age if it came from the cliffs along the Potomac River in Westmoreland Co. Edited January 12 by ted coulianos 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 7 hours ago, Shellseeker said: I wonder if it is possible to find Dugong fossils in Virginia.... Maybe @Al Dente knows. This paper describes one from the Calvert Formation of Maryland and Virginia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 3 hours ago, Al Dente said: This paper describes one from the Calvert Formation of Maryland and Virginia. Thank you for the present, I remind myself constantly that I stand on the shoulders of giants in continuing my paleontological education. These older research are amazing in quality and detail The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 14 hours ago, ClearLake said: With the crown broken off as it is, this may be tough to ID. Certainly beyond my abilities. What is up with the hole in picture 2 and then in 3 it looks like it was bored into the tooth?? Note a very similar hole on the equivalent location in the last photo @ted coulianos provided. Curious. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted coulianos Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 the photo doesn't show it but the hole in the above tooth is due to one of the roots broken off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, ted coulianos said: the photo doesn't show it but the hole in the above tooth is due to one of the roots broken off Ah, very interesting. Same reason could apply to the original tooth in question I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Largemouth Bass Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 (edited) Thanks for the responses, everyone. It does resemble the illustrated Metaxytherium tooth. Have learned a lot in this thread! The crown length is 37 mm and the crown width is 25 mm. Edited January 12 by Largemouth Bass 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now