Possible bison tooth? or plain old cow

[Stasdab]

Hello everyone, found this in a field in crete illinois. Bison were probably gone from the area about 200 years ago. I know its hard to identify isolated bovine teeth but it appears to have a pronounced stylid thats why im thinking bison. Hopefully you guys can help. I hope it's not a cow!

[painshill]

Hi Stanley
Well it's certainly bovid. It's not the prominence of the stylid that leads to bison identification. It's the degree to which the stylid is isolated from the main body of the tooth. The general rule is that if the stylid on a molar is isolated as a separate column of enamel (often so isolated that it can be detached from the main cusps of the tooth and may fall away of its own accord in worn or weathered teeth) then it's likely bison rather than cow. I would say there's a good probability on that one but not 100% certainty. The pics are a bit blurry and there's some washed-out detail on the crucial area between the stylid and the main cusps.

[Stasdab]

Thanks painshill, sorry abou pics but the best i could do. The stylid is connected to the main body of tooth by a millimeter channel so a cow i guess then. Oh well it was worth looking into and finding out.  Thanks again

[Stasdab]

Some closer pics

[painshill]

Yep... that last picture shows it more clearly. It could conceivably still be bison but cow is very much more likely. When the stylid is isolated you can have pretty high confidence in "bison" and rule out cow. When the stylid is attached you can have pretty high confidence in cow and rule out bison. Here's a bison molar with an isolated stylid. It's attached to the tooth by cementum but not actually joined to the main cusps.

[Picture by Thomas McConnell]

[T-Bone]

I am finding several teeth of late in a creek bed. Do any of these look like bison? I have a few leg bones and a vertebrate as well.

[T-Bone]

I typically find cretaceous shark teeth here, but these seem to be pleistocene. Some are fully mineralized while others are not.

[SGT.Digger]

Looks like plaque on that one pic towards the base. I’d say cow