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© Harry Pristis

RAY DENTICLE PATHOLOGY


Harry Pristis

Two dermal denticles (literally, "skin teeth") typically from the back and tail of Mio-Pliocene skates (Rajidae) and stingrays (Dasyatidae) from the Peace River in Florida. One is normal, the other is pathological.

Dermal denticles have the same embryological origin as the teeth in the ray mouth. These are teeth that have migrated to the skin.

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© Harry Pristis

From the album:

TEETH & JAWS

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Harry:   Do you have any experience with Turonian age dermal denticles from the Cretaceous.  I thought I had a croc osteoderm/scute, but a professor at SMU suggested it was a dermal denticle.  Could this be a large ray denticle from the Cretaceous? 

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Harry Pristis

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No, I don't have experience with Cretaceous denticles/osteoderms.  Your find looks to me more dermal denticle than osteoderm.  Maybe you can remove the sandy matrix from your find -- that may facilitate a more confident identification.  If the sand is cemented with calcite, try a soak in vinegar to loosen the sand grains.

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Good job with the images!  The symmetrical prominence on the underside(?) of the object militates against any osteoderm with which I am familiar.  But, that leaves a wide field of bone bits to consider.  Sorry I can't be more help.

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Harry, thanks so much for checking.  It was easier to just think croc osteoderm, but now the field is wide open. 

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