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South Carolina Mandible?


VanBrock06

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Hi Folks,

Could this be a mandible and if so is it from a Mammal or Reptile?

it was found in a Summerville Creek, Chandler bridge formation.

Thank you for your help!post-18353-0-54263800-1437679246_thumb.jpgpost-18353-0-53909100-1437679795_thumb.jpg

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It is a bone shard, certainly, but as to whether it is a mandible fragment may be unknowable. Without tooth sockets, a jaw-like articulation surface, or some vessel/nerve foramina, nothing necessarily points to jaw bone.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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The preservation doesn't really match the Chandler Bridge Formation - I wonder if this is from one of the younger formations?

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I'm seeing a mastodon lower jaw as you suggested. The 2 curved areas on the end are for the tooth roots to contact the large blood vessels that were occupying the long hollowed out area (foramina). The exterior surface looks right, and the two tooth sockets are just right in my opinion. As Bobby mentioned, it is likely younger, Pleistocene, from a younger layer. Hard to be sure from such a small piece from such a large beast.

Go find more of it where that came from. Really! It's probably there... I have a reconstructed jaw assembled from 17 pieces like that found over an entire summer.

MH

"A man who asks is a fool for five minutes. A man who never asks is a fool for life".

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