I think this is a bison antiquus upper molar

[JoeyN101]

I was going through some old fossils i found in my creek in Indiana when i was around 10. I found this, its very fragile and unfortunately 10 year old me didn't take care of it and its be broken further than it was from my poor excavation. From googling it, it looks identical to a Upper Left 1st Molar from Bison Antiquus i saw in an article from the western science center. I currently don't have access to take more pictures of the fossil but i have this one comparing it to the one from the article. Also if this is from a Bison Antiquus is this pretty common in Indiana and would it likely be productive to look for more ice age fossils in that same creek? Please let me know what your thoughts are on all this! Thanks everyone!

 

This is a link to the western science center's article that has the Bison Antiquus tooth that I'm comparing mine too.

https://www.westernsciencecenter.org/blog/2017/09/22/fossil-friday-bison-molar-2

[Jaybot]

Welcome to the forum!

 

It does look like bison to me, but even if the tooth was complete it would be daunting to id it down to species.

Currently, for any bison teeth we find, I label it as Bison sp. 

 

[JoeyN101]

I saw that it can't be a bison latifrons because they didn't live in Indiana, so if it is fossilized would that make it likely a bison antiquus?

 

 

[Brandy Cole]

Welcome!

 

The biting surface is the best identifying feature to help distinguish teeth in general.  Actual size would be the next best (setting your piece down beside a standard metric measurement and taking a photo).  

I recommend including those views for better results whenever you post a tooth.

 

In most places where bison have roamed, cattle have also. That makes bison teeth very hard to identify accurately. 

 

It's extremely hard to tell the difference between teeth that belong to the bovidae family (like bison and cattle) because they share so many of the same characteristics, including biting surface and sometimes size.

 

Some additional  identifying characteristics that can help would be if you have a tooth that has a robust, strongly attached stylid, that indicates bison. 

 

Your fragment does not, and since it's a fragment, there's no way to tell if it ever had one.

 

Another characteristic that can sometimes indicate a much older tooth is crenulated enamel.  Your fragment doesn't appear to have that. 

 

Drastic color changes that indicate mineral seepage into softer parts of the tooth might be a clue that it's older, but your piece has coloration I would expect to see in a modern tooth. 

 

Also, finding it in a jaw fragment with related teeth gives a lot more clues than finding a stand alone fragment, but we don't have that here.

 

Finally, there may be some teeth whose size is so great that cattle could potentially be ruled out completely, but your fragment doesn't seem near that large.  Again, accurate measurements can help. 

 

Teeth are generally the hardest parts of the animal, and I've never had an issue with my fossil teeth crumbling since any minor mineral leaching that occurs with teeth over time seems to make them stronger (except mammoth teeth, likely because they have a much different ratio of tough enamel to weak cementum and their size makes the enamel less stable).

 

Based on those characteristics, I think this is more likely to be a tooth from a modern cow or bull.

 

[Brandy Cole]

I should add that I would keep this piece regardless.  It represents a piece of the history of the land whether it's hundreds or thousands of years old. 

 

Maybe more importantly, it represents your personal history and what sounds like your first fossil hunt! 

 

It's great that even at 10 you had the observational skills to identify an item that very well could have been a fossil.

 

If you have legal access to the creek, I think it's a great idea to check it out and see what else it may hold.  Creeks are good places to get started. 

 

It's a good idea to look for geological maps in your area to see the different types of fossils that may be found in your local area.

 

[Jaybot]

Very good post @Brandy Cole!  I completely agree.  I had never heard of crenellated enamel until now, and I can confirm nearly all of our fossil Bison teeth have that diagnostic.

 

I will add, I do find a lot of broken teeth, and we have found ziploc bag’s worth of fragments; so not all fossil teeth stay together for where we are at.

 

Here is a recent find of mine for example:

 

 

 

And now after gluing 7 pieces back together:

 

[JoeyN101]

Thanks for your insights, should I try to the scorch test on the tooth? Like on one of the tiny broken pieces? 

Edited April 17 by JoeyN101

[Jaybot]

5 minutes ago, JoeyN101 said:

Thanks for your insights, should I try to the scorch test on the tooth? Like on one of the tiny broken pieces? 

From what I've heard, the burn test doesn't work with teeth, since enamel doesn't have much collagen to begin with

[JoeyN101]

Also when i get home in ten days ill check the broken pieces again but i think within those piece there is a stylid, I can't remember though.