Tooth of Mastodontium (- 15,000,000 years... - Lot 430 - Hôtel des ventes d'Évreux

Tooth of Mastodontium (- 15,000,000 years old) tooth of Gomphotherium The tooth is whole and shows 4 rows of tubers. It is a third molar. It is quite wide so it is a superior, right side. Its general appearance is typical of a Gomphotherium type mastodon and its size is typical of a middle Miocene species (about 15 million years old). 15.5 x 7.5 cm H: 5,5 cm It is therefore reasonable to attribute this tooth to Gomphotherium angustidens. From its general appearance, we can deduce that it probably comes from a site in the Gers, a department rich in Miocene sites and is undoubtedly an ancient discovery from the 19th century. Below is an article explaining the discovery of the teeth of Gomphotherium. In his memoir, read at the public assembly of the Royal Academy on November 13, 1715, the French physicist and naturalist René-Antoine de Réaumur gives his observations on the mines (ores) of Turquoises near the town of Simorre which would have been known for nearly a century. He indicates that these ores have tooth shapes and that the parts that were not covered with enamel, when fired, become turquoise in colour. Réaumur does not know to what kind of animals these teeth belong, supposing that they are sea animals because no land animals are known to have such teeth. Also discovered are long, round pieces that G. de la Brosse (1628) named mineral unicorn. The presentation continues with a description of the oven and the heating technique used to obtain these "turquoises". A few years later, in 1746, the Benedictine monk of Simorre, Dom Brugèles, indicated in his chronicles that "mines of a kind of stone are found, from which turquoise is made by the operation of fire". These "turquoises" were used, among other things, to decorate reliquaries, religious books and jewels of all kinds. However