Elasmosaur tooth

that's really awesome!!!!

That is a really nice Zarafasaura tooth. At 3 inches it is among the biggest I have seen.

Thx, it's certainly the largest I have seen so far, so I just have to snatch it, never mind the repairs on it - I can live with that!

Out of curiosity, with my limited knowledge, I haven't been able to identify the specimen's genus other than just "some elasmosaur" but perhaps you know something that I don't - what's the feature that makes this tooth likely to be a Zarafasaura? It would be great to be able to ID the genus of this particular tooth.

Thx.

Thx, it's certainly the largest I have seen so far, so I just have to snatch it, never mind the repairs on it - I can live with that!

Out of curiosity, with my limited knowledge, I haven't been able to identify the specimen's genus other than just "some elasmosaur" but perhaps you know something that I don't - what's the feature that makes this tooth likely to be a Zarafasaura? It would be great to be able to ID the genus of this particular tooth.

Thx.

There is only the one species of Plesiosaur from the Moroccan phosphate deposits at Khouribga if I am not mistaken. It used to be known as Plesiosaurus mauritanicus but that name is no longer valid. Now it is called Zarafasaura oceanis, and it is indeed an Elasmosaurid. Look it up on google and you will see a clear match.

It was only named in 2011 so it's not surprising most people still just call these teeth 'plesiosaur' or 'elasmosaur'.

Also it is rare to find these teeth out of matrix and at 3 inches it is a huge example. I've got a 2.5 inch one out of matrix that was previously the biggest i'd seen but yours takes the cake now

It's been so long since I first laid my eyes upon this beauty, and I've yet to find another tooth as big as yours.