TRexEliot Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I found this fragment of jaw from what I believe is a beaver yesterday at Big Brook in New Jersey. Could it be pleistocene or just iron stained modern bone? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRexEliot Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 @Harry Pristis @Shellseeker @jpc @Carl @frankh8147 Apologies for taking the liberty of tagging you guys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2fossils Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 try looking at muskrat and rabbit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Did you perform a flame test? Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRexEliot Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 (edited) @Fossildude19 does the flame test distinguish between modern and pleistocene? I always thought it only distinguished between permineralized and not-permineralized, and my understanding was that pleistocene material in the brooks often isn't permineralized (Ralph Johnson once told me a story about the disgusting smell of a large mammoth vertebra someone brought to his house that spilled rotten mammoth water all over his floor) Edited April 23 by TRexEliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawTooth Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I have these pictures from a while back, sorry about the poor picture quality, they were from when I first joined the forum, but they appear somewhat similar. This was identified as muskrat, though I believe rabbit was also proposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawTooth Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I do see some differences such as the "slope" of the jaw along the teeth and the difference in incisors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRexEliot Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 @SawTooth thanks for sharing - definitely see some similarities. Also appears to be a different number of molars, however, besides what you mentioned about the angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 25 minutes ago, TRexEliot said: @Fossildude19 does the flame test distinguish between modern and pleistocene? I always thought it only distinguished between permineralized and not-permineralized, and my understanding was that pleistocene material in the brooks often isn't permineralized (Ralph Johnson once told me a story about the disgusting smell of a large mammoth vertebra someone brought to his house that spilled rotten mammoth water all over his floor) It distinguishes between collagen/protein present and not present, so without having personal experience with pleistocene bones, I guess under most conditions a strong smell would at least hint at it being more recent. Best Regards, J 2 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRexEliot Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 @Mahnmut thanks for the explanation - just tried the flame test. Im not sure exactly how strong the smell is supposed to be, but I wasn't getting anything too strong. I couldn't completely tell if i was smelling anything or if it was just the smell of the lighter fluid burning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 (edited) 10 hours ago, SawTooth said: I do see some differences such as the "slope" of the jaw along the teeth and the difference in incisors. differences in incisors?... there are no incisors in either specimen. It is too small to be a beaver. Muskrat is a pretty good educated guess based on the shape of the occlusal (chewing ) surfaces of the teeth. Edited April 24 by jpc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Hi, I am looking at a rabbit skull right now, no camera to hand though. The rabbit has a row of parallel molars, not the zig zag we see here. best fit I find online is indeed muskrat. (Or someone from that family...) Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybot Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 It's muskrat. Here's the link to a specimen for reference: 2 1 -Jay ''...science is eminently perfectible, and that each theory has constantly to give way to a fresh one.'' -Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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