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EXTREMELY RARE EOCENE ARCHAEOCETE WHALE ZYGORHIZA PRINCIPAL MOLAR TOOTH WITH INTACT CROWN AND DOUBLE ROOT FROM RARE FLORIDA PROVENANCE Chipola River - Florida, U.S.A. LATE EOCENE PERIOD: 40 - 35 million years ago This is an EXTREMELY RARE offering of a principal twin root molar tooth from the ARCHAEOCETE whale, Zygorhiza kochii. Zygorhiza teeth from ANY locale are extremely rare, especially when they are the primary forked-root type like this one is. The single root, conical-crowned teeth are also rare but more common than the teeth of this type offered here. This tooth is additionally rare due to its FLORIDA provenance. The few teeth on the market of this prehistoric marine monster are from either Morocco or South Carolina, USA, as of this posting. Florida teeth are exceedingly more difficult to find than the other more common provenances. The teeth of Zygorhiza are so rare that they are most often restored with missing portions fabricated - sometimes to an extreme degree due to the high value of the teeth on the collector market. Far more rare than the heavily fabricated and restored Moroccan teeth that are currently on the market, this tooth has forgone the typical root and extensive crown fabrication. It remains in its natural state with one small exception - ONLY the final 4 to 5 mm of the tip of the single central cusp was restored. Other than this restoration amounting to an honest percentage that is basically immeasurable, the tooth is original. The color is incredible and this river is known for producing iron-rich remains in this hue. The enamel on this specimen is spectacular with 100% original pigment and patterns as well as an uncoated, natural luster. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! A RARE TOOTH IN UNHEARD OF PRESERVATION FROM AN EVEN RARER SOURCE SITE. Zygorhiza is believed to be a cetacean member emerging early in the whale lineage and closer to Basilosaurus than modern whales. The name Zygorhiza means "yoke tooth" because of its primary meat-shearing molars having a twin, forked root. Whales, dolphins and porpoises make up the group of air-breathing marine mammals called CETACEANS. This group is comprised of three sub-groups - the extinct ARCHAEOCETI, and two living types, the ODONTOCETI (toothed whales) and MYSTICETI (baleen whales). All have a body structure that is highly adapted for their marine environment. These features include paddle-like forelimbs, lack of external hind limbs, large tail for propulsion underwater, dorsally located nostrils for breathing just above the surface of the water, specialized ears for underwater hearing and a streamlined body profile for efficient hydrodynamic locomotion. Odontocetes are more prevalent and varied than Mysticetes. All of the smaller current living whales (porpoises, orcas, narwhals, pilots, etc.) and a few of the larger ones (Sperm Whale) are toothed (Odontocetes). Mysticetes include the largest animal that ever lived on the earth, the Blue Whale. All cetaceans are carnivorous with a main diet consisting of fish, invertebrates and other marine mammals. Many cetacean fossils are found in sediments alongside fossil shark teeth and other marine vertebrates but whale fossils are much less common compared to other marine vertebrate fossils of the same period and region and whale fossils are often found in fragments or show evidence of predation by prehistoric sharks, no doubt, cetaceans most feared enemy in their prehistoric past. VERY RARE TO HAVE A PRIMARY FORKED-ROOT MOLAR OF THIS QUALITY AND EVEN MORE SO, FROM A FLORIDA SITE!!! 3.5" high with root, tooth is 2.25" across $2795 WH010 Actual Item - One Only |
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