Mystery object - is this a tooth?

November 16, 2021 7:36 AM

I picked up a number of interesting rocks along the shore of Lake Huron in the Owen Sound area this summer, and this one seems more like a tooth than a rock, but I've been unable to properly identify what it is. It's about 2.5 cm tall, 2 cm wide, and has light grooves along the side that radiate out from the base. Overall it feels smooth and hard, like a rock. Could it be a fossil? Pics here: 1 2 3
posted by Paid In Full to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

Best answer: Possibly fossilized Rugosa horn coral.
posted by zamboni at 7:52 AM on November 16, 2021 [5 favorites]

It looks like a rugose coral fossil to me too.
posted by pipeski at 7:53 AM on November 16, 2021 [2 favorites]

To me that looks like a freshwater drum fish tooth. They are found in the Great Lakes, and I think they're also called sheepheads.
posted by DSime at 8:00 AM on November 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

As a kid I collected a lot of Devonian fossils from Forest, Petrolia, Arkona, etc. and concur with zamboni and pipeski, that it looks like the base of a beach-worn fossil coral.
posted by brachiopod at 9:56 AM on November 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

Yes! Agreed with the above that that is a horn coral fossil. We used to collect a lot of them around there, especially on Cape Croker Reserve (north of Owen Sound on Georgian Bay) when I was a kid. Nice find!
posted by ldthomps at 5:43 PM on November 16, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. What a neat discovery and I'll keep my eyes peeled for more next summer.
posted by Paid In Full at 7:16 AM on November 17, 2021 [2 favorites]