gianttweety Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 Found this walking a creek near me. Looks like a fossil tooth but I didn't think Atlanta had that kind of thing. I have found fossils in Florida and South Carolina and this sure seems like a fossil. It's heavy and stone-like.
caldigger Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) So let me get this straight. You have found fossils in S. Carolina and in Florida, you are right in between the two and you don't think they have fossils there? It looks like bison/bos or camelid tooth. I couldn't tell you which. It would be best to post photos of different sides of the tooth particularly a straight on shot of the chewing surface. Any fossil is a good find! Edited August 17, 2015 by caldigger
Rustdee Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) It looks to be potentially bovine or bison due to the stylid in the photograph, however, I am no expert. Pictures of the chewing surface would help the true experts when they get here though. Actually after looking into the general geology of Georgia, I have my doubts for this being a fossil since the Atlanta area is non-sedimentary rock. Edited August 17, 2015 by Rustdee
Auspex Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 ...You have found fossils in S. Carolina and in Florida, you are right in between the two and you don't think they have fossils there?... Greater Atlanta is not blessed with fossiliferous sediments. Chances are this is of more modern origins. "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!
Khyssa Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 Caldiggger, most of Georgia lacks these types of fossils. I believe it has to do with the waterway that once cut through from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic ocean. It cut through the Florida panhandle and much of Georgia.
Shellseeker Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 It is a Horse packing tooth (last tooth all the way back in the jaw. It would be good to provide measurements (length and width of the crewing surface) and a larger photo of only the tooth taken from the last photo Since we have modern horses, it will be difficult to tell if this is fossil or not. Look up "burn test" for fossils The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"
gianttweety Posted August 17, 2015 Author Posted August 17, 2015 It definitely seems mineralized to me. Just like fossils I've found in the Peace River in Florida.
FossilDAWG Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 Pleistocene fossils have turned up in cave fills/karst structures in limestone in northeast Georgia, and in numerous streams cutting through the upper coastal plain south of Atlanta, so it is not impossible that they could turn up in a very localized spot in Atlanta. However it seems unlikely, as the granite bedrock is not very favorable to producing "pitfall trap" type deposits like karst features, and any bog/stream type deposits would be superficial and thin. I have not heard of Pleistocene fossils being found in Atlanta proper. It's most likely that the tooth is modern, and stained dark by tannins and such in the water, but a Pleistocene origin can't be dismissed out of hand. Don
Auspex Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 Bear in mind that teeth are pretty much 'mineralized' when they are new, and mineral staining can occur in a time span measured in decades in some environments. "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!
TNCollector Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 I agree with FossilDAWG, and think these teeth are modern. Atlanta is not a good place for fossils this young to be found. All of the young fossil bearing formations that would harbor this sort of material are East/Southeast of Atlanta
caldigger Posted August 23, 2015 Posted August 23, 2015 Then I bow and stand corrected! Not being from the east coast, I just assumed (ya, I know the saying!) that given there are very fossil rich lands above and the same below, that there was a good chance something was deposited in between. My mistake!
Shellseeker Posted August 25, 2015 Posted August 25, 2015 Caldigger, I would not call this a "mistake" . I find LOTS of horse teeth in the Peace River all of which look and seems to be fossilized. and I know that some are modern and most of the time I can not tell which is which. Jack The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"
jpevahouse Posted August 25, 2015 Posted August 25, 2015 Horse tooth, looks old but who knows maybe not as old as it looks.
Plax Posted August 25, 2015 Posted August 25, 2015 Then I bow and stand corrected! Not being from the east coast, I just assumed (ya, I know the saying!) that given there are very fossil rich lands above and the same below, that there was a good chance something was deposited in between. My mistake! No mistake Caldigger. Who would have thought there would be Miocene fossils in the Paleozoic outcrop belt of eastern Tennessee? Another instance is the far outlying Eocene Castle Hayne Formation Rocks in the piedmont of North Carolina. While the tendency is for the area in Georgia to not have fossils I wouldn't completely rule it out. Am not saying this is a fossil but think we should be cautious with any absolute determinations. I agree with everything said previously.
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