Claw/Canine ID help

[stormykats]

Found in a baldwyn County, mississippi creek while fossil hunting 

 

Unsure if modern or fossil or what it could be?

Beginner hunter

[Fossildude19]

Looks like a racoon canine.

 

Could be modern. Could be really old.

Creeks and rivers can color bones fairly quickly.

[Shellseeker]

It might be raccoon... Here is a photo of both upper and lower canines.  The upper is 1.2 inch (30 mm) and the lowers tend to be smaller down to .8 inch (20 mm),  Please provide the length on yours. Note the ridge on the left side of the upper canine. Does yours have a similar ridge ?

Most modern mammal teeth are white/yellow like humans.  and a river can quickly turn it brown/black.  Your light spot on the enamel may imply modern,

 

[stormykats]

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

It might be raccoon... Here is a photo of both upper and lower canines.  The upper is 1.2 inch (30 mm) and the lowers tend to be smaller down to .8 inch (20 mm),  Please provide the length on yours. Note the ridge on the left side of the upper canine. Does yours have a similar ridge ?

Most modern mammal teeth are white/yellow like humans.  and a river can quickly turn it brown/black.  Your light spot on the enamel may imply modern,

 

I don't have a way to measure but attached a better size guide in this photo compared to a dollar bill!

 

It's completely smooth on all sides and I can't feel any sort of ridge or see one.

 

Now that you mention the white part I definitely think it's a modern mammal tooth 

[Shellseeker]

Your tooth is 22 mm or 9/10th of an inch....

There are a couple of small mammals like Raccoon and Opossum which have canines close to an inch. Just because raccoons are more common, it is likely that any one inch canine found in Florida is raccoon.

You can search the Internet for "raccoon canine fossil tooth" and see hundreds like this , especially on for Sale sites..

Here is one of them..

 

When ever I pick up a one inch canine, without distinguishing features (like the ridge that identifies raccoon upper canines) , I sort of know I can have a good guess but can never be positive.  

It happens,  just go out and find another tooth... hopefully larger

[stormykats]

30 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Your tooth is 22 mm or 9/10th of an inch....

There are a couple of small mammals like Raccoon and Opossum which have canines close to an inch. Just because raccoons are more common, it is likely that any one inch canine found in Florida is raccoon.

You can search the Internet for "raccoon canine fossil tooth" and see hundreds like this , especially on for Sale sites..

Here is one of them..

 

When ever I pick up a one inch canine, without distinguishing features (like the ridge that identifies raccoon upper canines) , I sort of know I can have a good guess but can never be positive.  

It happens,  just go out and find another tooth... hopefully larger

Thank you so much for your insight! I do hope to find more teeth on my adventures.  

[Kane]

At a dollar store, that dollar bill could buy a ruler.  

[Jaybot]

Could also be opossum.