S236 - Nicely Preserved Huge Ice Age Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) Upper Molar Tooth

Impressive "Upper Jaw" maxillary molar tooth belonging to the famous and enormous Ice Age Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). Completely natural, without restorations or repairs. Only a colorless professional stabilizer called Paraloid B72 has been applied to ensure its proper preservation. These types of teeth, have been exposed to extremely high humidity levels for thousands of years or even frozen in the permafrost. When they are unearthed, the moisture within their structure begins to evaporate, and they dehydrate rapidly, leading to fracturing and rapid degradation of the fossil. For this reason, it is important to apply this stabilizer professionally in the lab for proper paleontological protection.

Observations: Almost no developed feeding wear on this upper molar tooth. Truly nice specimen.

The teeth/molars of mammoths are among the most complex of any mammal. They are composed of plates of dentine surrounded by enamel. A series of these plates (crown) held together by dentine makes up a tooth. The number of plates in each tooth is determined by species and the age of the tooth. At the base of the tooth, the root held the tooth in place.

Mammoth’s go through a maximum of six sets of teeth as they mature. As teeth are replaced, each successive tooth is larger and composed of more plates. After the teeth in a mammoth’s sixth and final set becomes worn, the animal would become unable to chew its food and eventually starve to death.

Most mammals have one set each of deciduous and permanent teeth. The deciduous teeth are lost at maturity and the permanent teeth remain until death. Mammoths had six sets of teeth, three deciduous and three permanent sets. In most mammals deciduous teeth are lost vertically. This is to say, they come out of the sockets and a new tooth grow in from underneath. In mammoths, tooth loss is horizontal, meaning that the new tooth grows in from the rear of the jaw, while the old tooth is lost off the front as it wore down.

Interesting scientific paper about the Structure and evolution of mammoth molar enamel.