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EUROPEAN ICE AGE WILD BOAR FOSSIL TOOTH SET WITH COMPLETE TUSK - Maas River, Holland LATE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD: 150,000 - 10,000 years ago This is such a remarkable fossil set it of the European Ice Age wild boar, Sus scrofa. It is one of the very few specimens like it we will offer or ever have. It is a set of fossil teeth comprising a complete and amazingly well preserved tusk, along with two incisors (one from the upper jaw and one from the lower). These were collected several years ago during a rare and unique occurrence. A Dutch dredge working the famous Maas River struck a rich but small bed of fossils from the last European Ice Age. Digging at depths deep in the river bottom, an amazing array of specimens were retrieved over several years. Despite our continual efforts to monitor a repeat event like that one, it is most likely it will never happen. You can spend all day on a river dredge on those rivers and barely come up with so much as a single scrap fossil bone as we did last Spring! Once much of these rare fossils we have acquired are sold, we will not likely have such quality again. This set is part of a very small lot we acquired in a large collection that was the result of that dredging event years ago. Tusk has a fine crack from expansion but we have stabilized it. Other two teeth are perfect. Tusk shows classic criss-cross growth lines in the ivory. You could not ask for a finer quality set for reference or to compliment a fine Pleistocene fossil display of the fauna of Europe's final Ice Age!The boar Sus scrofa, belongs to the Suidae Family and is an artiodactyl (even-toed ungulates). These mammals usually have either two or four weight-bearing toes with hooves. The "cloven hoof" appearance is characteristic of pigs, deer and cattle. Pigs evolved in the Oligocene Period, most likely in Asia and first appeared in Europe during the Miocene Period. They are omnivores and in prehistoric times, have lived in a wide variety of habitats including tropical rainforests and dense woodlands. The wild boar is a large and extremely ferocious beast that still survives today in the species Sus scrofa. They have a saying in the Balkans that "you take a hunter with you when you want to kill a deer but you take a priest when you want to kill a boar". Wild boars are fearless creatures that have been known to attack and many times, kill humans. Only the male boars develop long canines in its lower jaw. They prefer leafy forests and usually live in lairs hollowed out of the ground or thicket. They are predominantly nocturnal and are most active from sundown until just before sunrise. Small groups stick together with a dominant male reigning over a very large area of the forest. Modern day wild boars usually live in the wild for 8-10 years. SUPERB COLLECTION AND REFERENCE SET WITH STUNNING, COMPLETE TUSK - PRIZE SPECIMENS!
Tusk is 3.5" in length, other teeth 2.5" - 2.2" in length $195 LM41-014 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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Maas River site, Holland |
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195 |
