Cow or bison?

aahunt03

Tenderfoot
May 18, 2013
7
13
Texas
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

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A pretty reliable feature for distinguishing is what’s called an “isolated stylid”. Stylids are present in the cheek teeth of all Bovidae and occasionally in horses as a thin column of enamel that sits between the main cusps of the tooth. It’s very prominent in the subfamily Bovinae within Bovidae, so for North America that means either Bos (domestic cattle) or Bison. The difference between them is that in Bison the stylid is isolated from the main cusps of the teeth as a distinct and separate structure, to the extent that it may even detach completely in old teeth.

I’ve arrowed the isolated stylid in the picture of a bison molar below. Yours has an equally isolated stylid, so it’s Bison with a high certainty.

Bison Molar (isolated stylid).jpg

[pic by Thomas McConnell]
 

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Dang good ID lol alot of knowledge on this site
 

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