TJE
Bronze Member
Guessing Elk or Buffalo toe/hoof bone. Anyone have better knowledge.
Thanks
TJE
Thanks
TJE
Hey, Thanks old digger, I should have mentioned in my earlier post/w photos...It is 3" long, 2" wide .
TJE
Here are two examples of each, Deer phalanx and Bison. If yours is not Bison it sure looks similar. What part of the country did you discover the specimens? If it is Cervidae, Elk, Moose, Mountain Deer, StagMoose, or Caribou, I'm not familiar with it. The first pictures are same animal, White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus LC. The difference is quite obvious.Thanks Paleopilot, alot of the bone fossils I collected back 20 yrs ago, a geologist from that area dated them appr. 20,000 yrs. old. also said that Camel fossils in the same area. Would it be easy to tell them apart?
Thanks again.
TJE
Hello Harry, guess I had a "senior moment" last night. I meant to say the specimen looked like a "1st" phalanx Bison toe-bone, which, I still think it does. Large 2nd Bison toe-bones can closely resemble the larger ones of the Cervidae group as I'm sure you are aware. Sorry for any confusion.Golly, fellas . . . I'm in Florida where we don't get elk bones; but, I think that this must be an elk medial phalanx. I say that 'cause it's not a bison toe bone and it's not a horse toe bone.
I can provide an image of the toe bones of another cervid, the white tail deer, as my best evidence. (Bison toes in the 2nd image.)
The skull is always the "prize" when I.D.ing a species. Do you still have it?Hey Paleopilot, Your bottom (last pic) Bison?/sure does look so much alike too!!
Discovered in Northern Alberta Foothills (eastside of the Rockies),
Wapiti ('Elk' in native Cree) River banks, Bison bones and skull from the same area.
Here are two examples of each, Deer phalanx and Bison. If yours is not Bison it sure looks similar. What part of the country did you discover the specimens? If it is Cervidae, Elk, Moose, Mountain Deer, StagMoose, or Caribou, I'm not familiar with it. The first pictures are same animal, White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus LC. The difference is quite obvious.
I would tend to agree with your assessment of Proximal similarities, I was referring to the similar characteristics between Cervidae, proximal, and Bovidae, medial, phalanges. The distal end of the bone in question just doesn't look like a match to any hoof core, in my opinion, and yes, I do trust your images, they are always 'top notch' by the way. Maybe these images will help illustrate my point.Uh-oh! I see the confusion here. You have mistaken elk toe bones for bison. Trust my images of bison toe bones. Proximal toe bones do not much resemble medial toe bones in these species. Notice the similarities between the deer and the elk bones, the nearly bilateral symmetry (because they are both cervids). Bovid medial toes are not so symmetrical.