Monday, August 31, 2020

Fossil Teeth

Fossil Teeth

A big part of my "real" job as a veterinarian is dentistry, so I tend to be a little obsessed with teeth of extinct and extant species.

From the Natural History Museum of Utah

Mammuthus columbi, Columbian mammoth

Smilodon fatalis, the saber-tooth cat

Bison latifrons, Giant bison

Canis dirus, the dire wolf, a very good pupper

Paramylodon harlani, Giant sloth

Uintatherium

This is just the right front part of the maxilla of Arctodus, the giant short-faced bear. That canine tooth is 2-3 inches long. Unlike modern bears, these guys were built for running!

Top = Mammut americanum, American mastodon
Bottom = Mammuthus sp., mammoth
Interestingly, when people first found mastodon teeth, with the big crowns as opposed to the flat grinding surface of mammoth (and modern elephant) teeth, they thought mastodons were carnivores (and thought they were still alive). That's just what 2020 America needs--carnivorous elephants.


From the Museum of Ancient Life

Dimetrodon, my favorite not-a-dinosaur (they lived way before the dinosaurs, and were synapsids--proto-mammals)

Another smiling Smilodon

Basilosaurus, a proto-whale

Mammoth jaw


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