Peace river Id needed

[autographcollector11]

Hi all

this is from the peace river. Kind of stumped about it. Looks like wood but need your help....thanks 

[fifbrindacier]

I don't know what you have here, your photos are a bit blurry.

[Bone Daddy]

Looks like a broken fragment of mastodon tooth enamel plate.

 

[autographcollector11]

Here are better pics.....one side does look to have an enamel look. The other looks wood like. Hmmmm........

[gavialboy]

ill go with mastodon tooth fragment. but ill let the other forum experts give their opinions

[Al Dente]

I think it is mammoth, not mastodon.

[fossilized6s]

I agree with Mammoth tooth frag.

 

Mastodon teeth have more of a glossy smooth finish. Mammoth teeth have more of a tree bark look. 

[Bone Daddy]

Some kind of Proboscidea for sure. I'd guess mastodon just based on the apparent black coloration, which matches the little bit of mastodon pieces I have been able to find. The broken up mammoth tooth plates I find are typically a little lighter in color and more of a brown tone to it. I've seen mammoth fragments that looked black also and I actually find those more than mastodon. So like Al Dente said, could be either or mammoth. Is there any way to definitively tell the difference on small incomplete fragments? Is there anything with teeth that is akin to Schrieger lines to diagnose which beast it originated from? (like how there is with ivory)?

 

And what Charlie just said also - the mastodon is usually glossier and almost like a fragment of fired black china on the exterior.

 

 

[abyssunder]

No doubt, is a mammoth tooth plate fragment. Here are a few ones from Europe (Mammuthus primigenius) to compare with. The distinguishing " V " pattern on the vertical rows is visible.

 

[Bone Daddy]

Nice comparison photo and it really shows the "wood" texture to the look. Often times I think I see a broken plate like this on the bottom, only to grab it and it turns out to be a piece of waterlogged wood.  Happens again and again.  LOL.  But, every so often, it's a piece of mammoth tooth or tusk "bark".