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Hey guys, this is my first time posting. I got this fossilized tooth from Morocco the other day and what I want to know is which species it belongs to? Thanks!

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right place but I figured I'd show off my collection. I don't have many of my own finds cleaned up enough so I'll start with the ones I have bought or have been gifted. I don't have much, but I'm proud of what I do have (except that spino tooth). Note: I just figured out how the label pictures. If I made any mistakes please let me know. Zarafasaura oceanis Zarafasaura oceanis (Unknown fish jaw) Prognathodon Spinosauridae Amber with ants in it (I got it at a gift shop back in 2017 and have no information about it)

I just had another bad experience with the famous auction site wich I can not mention by name as I understand it. (Even my cat could find it in an encyclopedia though...) This time I placed a quick bidding on a - as it was advertised - slightly restored big fully rooted tooth of a Prognatodon currii. To my exitement I won the bidding. Taking a better look at the photo's of the item my doubts grew and on its arrival yesterdag my worries were allas confirmed. The tooth was firmly and totally cemented to the root with a mixture of sand and glue (in a colour nearly matching the fossil). Other breaklines in the root were cemented in the same way (this bothered me less). How about that for a 'slight' restoration. It is possible that the root and crown are just parts of two different fossils. Impossible to know. So I have this argument with the seller who claims the description mentions it is restorated and I should not expect any better for this price... So be warned. Ask for more information before bidding and zoom in on the pics if possible. I will quit my account for that website now. Looking back I can say half of the items I won/bought on it caused me some form of dissapointment. I'll buy from experts only, I never had any problems with scientists and experienced people. Should I give the seller a negative or neutral review? Or was I just too ignorant? Happy to shake it off a bit over here. It's not about the money, it's the new crack in my trust that hurts a little.

Hello friends! I found this piece of Prognathodon anceps jaw for sale. Do you think is real? I appreciate your comments! Thanks

https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29372

I have been reading up on Moroccan mosasaurs and one point of confusion that I have run into is differentiating teeth from Prognathodon anceps and Prognathodon giganteus. There seems to be a great deal of overlap in their descriptions and occasional contradictions in the scientific literature. The first issue I’ve noticed is that there seems to be a great deal of confusion over what to even call the two species. Leiodon anceps (Owen, 1841-1845) was based on two tooth fragments and a section of jawbone. The genus was renamed Liodon by Agassiz (1846) because the name Leiodon was preoccupied by the pufferfish Leiodon Swainson, 1839. E.D. Cope (1869-1870) caused confusion by treating Liodon as synonymous with Tylosaurus. Further confusion was caused when the holotype material of Liodon was lost. This has resulted in authors suggesting that the Liodon is nomen dubium and all species under Liodon should be transferred to Prognathodon (Schulp et al. 2008). With regards to Moroccan specimens, Arambourg (1952) identifies prognathodontid teeth as ‘Mosasaurus’ cf. anceps. The smaller specimens identified by Arambourg have since been reclassified as teeth from Eremiasaurus heterodontus (Leblanc et al., 2012) and the larger teeth have been tentatively assigned to ‘Prognathodon anceps’. More recently, Bardet et al. 2015 suggested that the Moroccan ‘Prognathodon anceps’ may actually represent a unique species, separate from the poorly defined European M. (Leiodon) cf. anceps. Prognathodon giganteus Dollo, 1904 (holotype IRScNB R106 / formerly 3103) was defined based on an incomplete skull and postcranial skeleton from the upper Campanian of the Ciply area, southern Belgium. Note that early mosasaurs, Lacerta gigantea and Mosasaurus giganteus both share a similar specific epithet to Prognathodon giganteus but are actually both junior synonyms of Mosasaurus hoffmannii. For simplicity, I’m going to just refer to the two as Prognathodon anceps and Prognathodon giganteus. In a recent thread, @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon made an informative post about the two prognathodontids. I have copied it below for context. Begin Quote …This is certainly another pair of nice teeth, even if they both belong to the most common prognathodontid species found in Morocco! I'd call them both P. giganteus from my experience, although the morphology of the top-most/first tooth conforms more with Bardet et al. (2014)'s Prognathodon nov. sp., which seems to correspond most to P. anceps as defined here. However, this is where I get confused between these two prognathodontid species, as the teeth of both species seem very similar morphologically (see below images): Prognathodon (Mosasaurus) cf. anceps sensu Arambourg, figure 8 from Machalski et al., 2003. Campanian and Maastrichtian mosasaurid reptiles from central Poland (some beautiful images of M. hoffmanni teeth in this publication too, @Praefectus) (Leiodon) cf. anceps, plate XXXVIII from Arambourg, 1952. Les vertébrés fossiles des gisements de phosphates (Maroc - Algérie - Tunisie) Prognathodon giganteus, figure 40 from Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1989. The mosasaur Prognathodon (Reptilia, Mosasauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Belgium Amarabourg (ibid., p. 280-281) describes the teeth of Mosasaurus cf. anceps as follows: Or, translated (mine): Machalski et al. (ibid., p. 404-405) summarize this by stating In comparison, Lingham-Soliar & Nolf (ibid., p. 166-167) describe the teeth of Prognathodon giganteus as follows: Overall, reading over all the slight differences in termonology used, the descriptions and images given for the teeth of both P. giganteus and P. anceps seem rather similar. However, Arambourg's definition of 'Mosasaurus' cf. anceps dates to 1952, whereas Dollo defined his P. giganteus in 1904. This would seem to suggest that P. giganteus might be the senior synonym. As Arambourg based his definition on Owen's 1841 description of Leiodon anceps, this seniority may be misleading, however, with P. anceps actually being the senior. Another reason to may be given more credence to the naming of P. anceps is that, according to Wikipedia "Prognathodon giganteus, named by Dollo in 1904, is one of species with the most brief descriptions, apparently only intended to provide a name for the skeleton of the mosasaur for exhibition in the museum hall". To my knowledge, the two prognathodontid species haven't ever been synonymized, however. Quote from this thread: End Quote Below are some additional pictures and academic quotations relevant to the topic. This is the holotype skull of Prognathodon giganteus and a hypothetical sketch from Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1990. Compare to some Prognathodon anceps skull reconstructions originating from Morocco. As far as descriptions of teeth go, Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002 describe Prognathodon giganteus in Jordan (NOT Morocco) as: They include the following picture: Cappetta et al. 2014 described Prognathodon teeth from the Gantour basin as the following. Note that Prognathodon anceps is referred to as Prognathodon nov. sp. in this publication. Bardet et al. 2015’s review of mosasaurid teeth differentiated Prognathodon teeth by the following. E is Prognathodon giganteus. F is Prognathodon anceps. In my opinion, these teeth look like they come from the same mosasaur, but different parts of the jaw. To summarize: Character Prognathodon anceps Prognathodon giganteus Size Anterior teeth less stocky than lateral teeth (Arambourg, 1952) Teeth robust, large cones (Bardet et al. 2015) Large and robust in appearance (Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002) The teeth appear to be more or less uniform in size along most of the jaw ramus although this assessment is an inference based on an incomplete number of preserved teeth and tooth bases of the maxillae and dentaries. (Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1992) Recurve Anterior teeth recurve posteriorly. Lateral teeth recurve posteriorly and slightly medially (Arambourg, 1952; Machalski et al. 2002) Somewhat posteriorly recurved tips (Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1992) Cross-section Anterior teeth cross-section, almost circular at the neck, becomes somewhat oval and irregular towards the apex. Lateral teeth are compressed with an elliptical symmetrical cross-section (Arambourg, 1952; Machalski et al. 2002; Bardet et al. 2015) In horizontal cross-section the tooth is subcircular and bears a close resemblance to Williston's (1897) cross-section of a tooth of P. overtoni (Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1992, Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002) Carinae Possess anterior and posterior carinae (Arambourg, 1952; Machalski et al., 2003) They are bicarinate with subequal buccal and lingual surfaces (Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1992, Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002) Labial (buccal) and lingual surfaces Labial and lingual surfaces, both of which are strongly convex (Arambourg, 1952; Machalski et al. 2002) Subequal convex labial and lingual faces (Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002) Serrations (crenulations) They bear finely crenellated cutting edges that extend the full apicobasal height, both symphyseally and commissurally (Arambourg, 1952; Machalski et al., 2003) The carinae are strongly marked and pinched from the main shaft with less visible serrations (Bardet et al., 2015) Surface features Facetting is not well developed but is more clearly seen on the lingual surface. Enamel beading is present, but poorly developed (Machalski et al., 2002) Some teeth bear indistinct facets on the lingual surface (Bardet et al., 2015) Tooth surfaces are enameled and appear to be covered in very fine vertical striae. This may on the other hand be an artifact of preservation caused by cracking of the enamel. Russell (1970, p. 374) on the other hand describes the enamel in P. giganteus as smooth but he may have based his statement on Dollo's (1904, p. 213) brief comment to that effect. Kues et al. (1985) also mention fine anastomosing striae in teeth which, however, are questionably referred to Prognathodon. (Lingham-Soliar & Nolf, 1992) Anastomosing enamel especially prevalent on the blunt apical region (Bardet and Pereda Suberbiola, 2002) Pinched/unpinched carinae Their two carinae are strongly detached (Arambourg, 1952) Tooth crowns without pinched carinae (Cappetta et al. 2014) The carinae are strongly marked and pinched from the main shaft with less visible serrations (Bardet et al 2015) ***Note the contradiction Apex Higher sharper apex (Bardet et al., 2015) Blunt apex (Cappetta et al. 2014, Bardet et al 2015) Based on all this, I think the defining differences the researchers are pointing are: (1) P. anceps teeth are more laterally compressed than P. giganteus (2) P. anceps teeth have “pinched” carinae while P. giganteus have unpinched carinae (3) P. anceps teeth have a pointed apex while P. giganteus has a blunt apex (4) P. anceps teeth are less posteriorly recurved than P. giganteus teeth I’m not quite sure what to conclude. These features seem like they may fall within heterodonty or individual, ontogenetic, and sexual variation. Whether the two species can be differentiated based on cranial and postcranial elements is yet to be seen. I have not seen any attempts to synonymize the species. In my opinion, I don't think the two species are understood well enough to differentiate the them based solely on isolated teeth. I would like to hear what others have to say on the topic.

A paper was recently published announcing the presence of Prognathodon in the Late Cretaceous chalk of Denmark. Prognathodon was a large, predatory mosasaur, well-known in the USA and Morocco, but known from other places e.g., the Netherlands. This new study is especially quite a big deal, because mosasaur fossils are incredibly rare in the Danish chalks. Prognathodon is now the 4th mosasaur known from the Late Cretaceous of Denmark, along with Mosasaurus, Plioplatecarpus and Carinodens. The Danish material is represented by two teeth - one of them being from the fossil site I study, Møns Klint! It's quite exciting that more and more research on the Late Cretaceous vertebrates of Denmark is being done The two danish Prognathodon teeth. The larger one (A-D) was found at Møns Klint, the smaller one (E-H) was found at Stevns Klint. These would have originated from 7.5- and 4-metre long mosasaurs, respectively. This is the new paper describing the mosasaur material: Giltaij, T.J., Milàn, J., Jagt, J.W.M. & Schulp, A.S. (2021). Prognathodon (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Maastrichtian chalk of Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, vol. 69, pp. 53–58. You can download the paper from here : https://2dgf.dk/publikationer/bulletin/bulletin-69-2021/#3 Hope you enjoyed this "Made-in-Denmark" mosasaur news -Christian

Hi everyone! This is a Prognathodon tooth from Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. I know that lots of rooted mosasaur tooth are composite or fake, so I am so happy to get such a nice rooted tooth from a reliable seller! The root has groove, which is a place for a new growing tooth, and has a great texture. I wanted to soak this and wash out some dusts from the root, but I saw a thread that says I should not soak Moroccan fossils.

Hello everyone! I just acquired this piece but the only thing I know is that it's a mosasaur from morocco and it shows the lower jaw and the pterigoid teeth from the upper jaw. Can any mosasaur experts here help me identify the species? I'm thinking of prognathodon maybe?. Also as far as I know it's not fake or composite but would be great if you could confirm it. Thank you very much for your help, very appreciated! Greetings from Spain.

Hello, i am a Student from Germany. I have recieved the Task of analyzing the huge fossil Collection of my School, which includes this tooth. According to a profile (that appears to have been made by a fifth or sixt-grader), it is from Oued-Zem / Khouribgha, morocco. My best guess is that it is from Prognathodon. It is about 2,5 to 3 cm Long and 1 cm thick. Many thanks in Advance!!!

Hi again I have a question what did prognathodon use it’s posterior teeth for I was just looking at a skull and they seemed different do they have a different use then the other teeth? @Troodon

PART 1, acquisition This piece was acquired via the "for sale" section of the Forum. The seller, @Fitch1979, Dries offered several jaw specimens, which were clearly superior to the mostly spurious Internet auction site examples. Dries provided some provenance on the fossil. It had resided in his family's private collection for over 26 years. It had been purchased at a gem and mineral show in Ghent from a collector who acquired the specimen in 1978. After a pleasant exchange with Dries, a bargain was struck and the specimen shipped on December 9, 2017. Since the piece was located in Belgium, arrival involved a seemingly interminable wait. Finally, the tracking indicated arrival at US Customs on December 29th. Then the real wait ensued. The tracking was not updated until January 22, 2018. At that time notice was given that the package had been turned over to the "postal operator." Curiously, it arrived on my SC doorstep that very day! It was a surprise to open the door and find the huge (shipping weight 28 lbs.) shipping box resting there. Here is the image posted to the Forum offering the fossil for sale. ...to be continued

Yesterday I made a visit to the Natural History Museum of Maastricht (The Netherlands) for my Birthday The museum is only a 40 minute drive from where I live and it showcases the entire natural history of the region, the cool thing about this museum is that the fossils which are showcased here are all regional fossils from The Netherlands, Germany & Belgium. I am starting the topic off with 2 pictures of the special exhibit called Microsculptures, which shows giant detailed photographs of insects to show how magnifecent they are. Then I went on to the "Mosaleum" which holds "Bér" the holotype specimen of Prognathodon saturator

Posting this a few days after driving four hours down to Tennessee and picking this bad boy up! It’s definitely the center piece of my collection thus far. Also want to say a quick thank you to all those who helped ensure the authenticity of this piece! Wasn’t about to pay all that money without being 110% sure! I did manage to come at the right time though, the shop offered a 20% post Christmas discount which helped a lot also, any opinions on the "bite mark"? I'd be more than happy to upload more photos if needed!

Hello, I am ziggycardon! I am currently 23 years old and I'm from Belgium. Ever scince I was a small child, I've had a great interest in dinosaurs, animals and pretty much everything that has to do with nature and natural history! On a professional level I also work with animals as I am head of terrarium & aquarium in 3 different pet stores, but in my spare time I also keep and breed many reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates & exotix fish (although, I am tyring to take it a few steps back privately), and another thing I do in my spare time is to visit school with my collection of reptiles and other exotic animals (including some living fossils) as well as a whole load of other educational natural history material and ofcourse with fossils. One of my biggest interest in evolution and that's where my passion for the paleontology and zoology really meet! I bought my first fossil at the age of 12, but I've started collecting fossils as a hobby in late 2015 and I have build a small collection ever since. Unfortunatly I have never in my life found a fossil myself, something I really have to start doing as I find the entire process fascinating, but I am sure this forum might give me the push I need to get started! This week I started working on my first specialized fossil room which I hope to have finished in november this year. Hope to house most of my fossils there as well as some museum quality replica's and do some themed displays like a Kemkem display with a life sized spinosaurus skull replica and lot's of kemkem fossils, a ice age display, a eocene display, a marine reptile display and so on... Something I also wanted to mention, the reason I've found this forum is due to the fact that I had a 1,06 meter long lower jaw of a Prognathodon delivered today and the seller of the fossil who brought me the fossil told me about the forum after I told him about the upcoming fossil room and that I might get in contact here with people should I ever want a certain fossil that might be hard to uptain. Is there anything more to say about me? Well I've the most wonderfull girlfriend I can imagine who shares an interest in paleontology but not in the same passion as I do. I really love to visit musea and I love to travel. And besides fossils and animals my other hobbies & interests are centered about movies and television as I am in particular a huge fan of everything Middle Earth, Game of Thrones & Pirates of the Caribbean, collecting lot's of collectables from these franchises and met quite a lot of the actors who play in them! Including Sam Neill who we probably all now best as dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park! Here are some photo's of my fossil collection, my animals and my photo with Sam Neill. First of all, this is me proudly posing with an ammonite! My newly arrived prognathodon jaw My display cases: afbeeldinegn upload images afbeeldingne upload pictures img foto The things that I don't have room for to display yet... A few of my special pets My photo with Sam Neill A.K.A. dr. Alan Grant If you have any questions regarding my photo's or my collection or what I do or about anything, feel free to ask!

Hey guys. Newb here. I picked up this mosasaur tooth at a local shop today, I’ve read through the forums about some fake settings with the jaws and whatnot but was wondering if just from the pics if anyone can tell me whether this setting with the root looks real, or did i just buy some teeth set in a fake mold.

Hi everyone, With this thread I wanted to start a discussion about what the feeding habits would be for most mosasaur species, how you think they would have fed. I personally love mosasaurs, they are one of my favorite prehistoric animals for a number of reasons and I’ve recently even bought my first Prognathodon jaw and I also live in an area that is not only known for their fossils but also for the discovery of mosasaurs. I’ve been doing a bit of reading lately about mosasaurs but I can’t really find anything difinitive on their feeding habits. Their diet yes. But exactly how they consumed their prey, not yet. I personally work with reptiles on a daily base, both with my job and with my hobby and I know quite a bit of different feeding behaviours with these animals. And as I was feeding the ball pythons (Python regius) at work I was kinda wondering, how would a large marine reptile like a mosasaurus eat? Would they just tear off chunks of meat like their closest living relatives the monitor lizards? Or would they perform deathroll like crocodiles do to tear of chunks of meat of their prey? Or when we talk about smaller prey, would they just swallow them whole like a snake does with it’s two lower jaws that can move independently, would a mosasaur be capable of that? Or would it be a mix of all those things or something entirely different? So I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the subject? I love to hear your theories and own finds and observations or if anyone ever read something in a scientific paper about the matter. I am dying to know your thoughts on the matter, as I want to learn as much as I can about these magnificent beasts!

I got this tooth as a freebie when I bought some fossils a while ago. I know it's a mosasaur tooth of some description and my guess would be Prognathodon sp. based on how common they are, but I'd like confirmation (if possible) for my own peace of mind. I know it's not easy ID'ing based on tooth crowns, but hope springs eternal. The tooth is about 3.5 cm long.

I got this jaw in the post today. It's 26 inches long, and seems to be the upper left jaw of a large-ish mosasaur, perhaps Prognathodon? The teeth don't provide much of a clue, since the crowns are, sorry to say, all added in afterwards. I knew this when I bought it, and I paid what I consider to be a fair price for a jaw of this size with botched-up teeth. My aim is ultimately to extract it, and mount it. At that point, I can sort the teeth out to a better standard, and replace the worst examples. I'm interested in any thoughts about the jaw in general - whether you see any obvious signs of tampering or anything unusual. I really wish people wouldn't interfere with these fossils to begin with! Thanks.