Lot 673
Rare Elephant Gomphothere Partial Jaw With 5 Inch Cusped Tooth. The lovely 8 inch long white jaw section is perfectly contrasted with the 5 inch long tooth which has its intact enamel colored shades of brown and gray. Also, the roots of a second tooth are present on the jaw. This rare, museum-quality fossil is 15-20 million years old, from Gansu Province, China. It is from a strange member of the elephant family known as Gomphotheres. Some Gomphotheres had strange shovel-shaped lower tusks used to drag up food. Gomphotheres, as well as Mastodons, had very different types of teeth from all modern elephants. Mastodons and Gomphothere teeth have paired, domed cusps which are placed all along both the upper and lower teeth. This allowed them to chew their food better than modern elephants, which have flat teeth. This specimen makes an impressive display item. Weight is 4 pounds.
Estimated Value $600 - 900.
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| Realized $518 |
