SE Texas - Jaw piece from?

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

I found this small fragment today on a SE Texas River gravel bar. It's a mandible fragment... I think a lower. There is a root fragment still in there as well. I'm not too familiar with tooth roots, so with these shapes I don't know what it's from.  I also can't tell if there would have been a canine present with the groove. It's mineralized.

Thanks for your thoughts.  I find Pleistocene material here. 

Size is 2.25 inches in length

[Jaybot]

Ok. So, I am in no position to id this, but I'm going to try just for the sake of learning by trial and error.

 

The first (and obvious) characteristic is the offset alveoli (that's a word I learned from @Shellseeker).  I feel like we can rule out cervids and bovids, which is what I am most familiar with.   Now as for the root, an important characteristic (I think) is that it is hollow.  I know that hollow teeth are rare in Florida, but I can't speak for SE Texas, as the teeth here in KS are often hollow (even deer teeth!)  So, what is your experience with hollow/not hollow teeth in your area?

  Looking at the actual jaw bone shape... I feel like I had to rule out wolf, mountain lion, or other predator.  My current guess is maybe peccary?  Found some reference pics on the web, and circled the section that kinda resembles your find.

 

 

 

 

I'm trying to be more deductive with my Id'ing skills... but I am still pretty new to this, so your probably best off waiting until the knowledgeable folks help us out

@digit@Balance   

@Harry Pristis@Shellseeker

  Sorry for taking the liberty of tagging y'all

Not discounting anyone else that can help!

 

[Shellseeker]

28 minutes ago, Jaybot said:

I'm trying to be more deductive with my Id'ing skills... but I am still pretty new to this, so your probably best off waiting until the knowledgeable folks help us out

EXACTLY... When I first started on TFF,  I did not know very much about fossils or identifications.  

SO I would put up fossils for IDs,  and sometimes it was a common fossil , known to many and quickly Identified. Other times , nothing... I kept quiet because I did not want others to realize that I was an expert on almost nothing. 

I learned some Bad ?  habits. 

1) I would find some excuse to re_pop the thread because I found that opening the thread sometme got it to different TFF members and someone would ID... Wow .. a strategy that worked... Sometimes.

2) Then I got into this habit of saying what it was obviously not,  and went about looking for similar fossils for the common fauna in my area... That worked also to help get and ID

3) I started thinking what is it like ???  OK , it is not sloth, but what fauna looks like sloth but is not sloth...  This works to get an ID.. and I started to gain knowledge and experience faster. Being wrong is a lot more educational than being right.

 

So,  Back to this jaw bone... You have a figure 8 Alveoli (and figure 8 remains of a tooth !!!  I have only seen that twice in fauna... Sloth and Tapir...  

[Brandy Cole]

The single molar looks reminds me of a partial from a tapir jaw fragment I found.

[Shellseeker]

The Tapir tooth I was remembering:

https://www.thefossilforum.com/topic/115336-a-chunk-of-jaw-with-a-broken-tooth/

[Harry Pristis]

13 hours ago, Jaybot said:

hollow teeth are rare in Florida

 

Mammal tooth roots are hollow to start, and most close almost completely with maturity.  However, some mammals have ever-growing teeth with pulp cavities that don't close.  One prominent example is the xenarthrans -- sloths, armadillos, and glyptotheres.  Armadillos have both cylindrical caniniform teeth and figure-eight cheek teeth.  Maybe this find is a chunk of armadillo maxilla. 

 

 

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Thank you @Harry Pristis @Shellseeker @Brandy Cole @Jaybot for this information.  Wow. Such a good read. 

I was wondering... would there have been another tooth in this  marked location?

Jack, the link you provided was very informative.  I really enjoyed it.

Also on my fragment... the other openings don't seem to have had the figure 8 shape.  They also don't go straight down and are at different angles as shown by the direction of the arrows. Not sure if that helps. Harry, this does seem to have had both figure 8 teeth and cylindrical teeth. Excellent information about the giant armadillo.

And sorry for my late response... twins are keeping me super busy.  I appreciate all of your help. 

[Brandy Cole]

Here's one of my tapir fragments  for reference. The orange outlines of the teeth are from natural mineral deposits, but they really highlight where the tooth fragments are.

 

Edited May 26 by Brandy Cole
Left out important description

[Brandy Cole]

Here's the front of a jaw as well to show more of the enamel texture.

[Shellseeker]

13 hours ago, johnnyvaldez7.jv said:

Jack, the link you provided was very informative.  I really enjoyed it.

Also on my fragment... the other openings don't seem to have had the figure 8 shape.  They also don't go straight down and are at different angles as shown by the direction of the arrows. Not sure if that helps. Harry, this does seem to have had both figure 8 teeth and cylindrical teeth. Excellent information about the giant armadillo.

Harry has excellent points...  It can not be Tapir where most molars would have hourglass roots, You must check each out.  Searching for a Giant Armadillo jaw that matches your sequence. I do not have a good representative jaw, but here is an excellent picture for Paramylodon harlani, which seems to have a very unique jaw line.

 

[Jaybot]

I've learned quite a bit in this thread!  Thanks for the very informative posts everyone, I appreciate it.  @Harry Pristis, I forgot that ground sloths aren't the only megafauna to have no enamel.  I'll have to note that.  Nice find @johnnyvaldez7.jv!

I'm going to try to give ID input on some more stuff- even though I'll be wrong 95% of the time, at least I'll learn a few things like I did today