Tyrannosaurus Toe Bone?

[Righteous]

Is this really a Tyrannosaur metatarsal as it says?

I’ve been hunting something really nice from a Tyrannosaur (T Rex)

 

 

 

 

[Righteous]

Pondera County, Montana

Two Medicine Formation

[Flx]

It does look like a partial metatarsal.

If it has been found in the Two Medicine Fm it is not T. rex though. The formation is too old for that. It could be Daspletosaurus or Gorgosaurus.

[Troodon]

First its not a toe bone its a center metatarsal and a quite worn one..Like Flx indicated cannot be Trex since it's from the TMF.  Terrible mount they have it facing the wrong direction and backside out.  There are lots of other theropods that have a similar shape in that size Tarsal (e.g: Struthiomimus, Oviraptors) so its a good question,  is it one?  Photo is awful to try to identify from just that angle so I tried finding another one from the sellers post that is more useful.

 We can try compare it to known one.  

Here is the entire foot of the Tyrannosaurid Gorgosaurus sp. from the Two Med Fm.  

 

Here is a different angle photo from the seller

 

Looking for the S sigmoidial (red) shape on the shaft and the raised kuckle (green) with a deep depression.    Hard to tell on the S shape but the distal end looks pretty flat to me.

Its very worn  to make a definitive call and the views are not the best to see it.  Unless it's a slam dunk I would say its indeterminate theropod

[Righteous]

Ok thanks. I don’t want something in the maybe it’s this and maybe it’s that category so guess I’ll keep looking 

[Righteous]

I sent them a request to see the other side 

[Righteous]

Here’s the other side, does it help at all?

[Troodon]

Can you get width

[Righteous]

I sent another email asking for it. 

[Righteous]

1 hour ago, Troodon said:

Can you get width

He said it was 1.89” across

[Troodon]

Thank you.  There is nothing I've seen that I can say definitely it's a tyrannosaurid metatarsal.

It's a very worn specimen and it does not help ID it.  

Here are a couple to compare against:

Here is my Struthiomimus metatarsal its 2" wide at the base with a slight dimple.

 

Here is a small tyrannosaurid (Nanotyrannus) metatarsal from the Hell Creek.  Its 2 3/4" wide at the base, a deep notch and the distal end is very high.

[Righteous]

Sent you a PM 

[Olenoides]

I wanted to weigh in on the discussion as that piece was being sold on my website.  First off we'd never intentionally represent the ID of a fossil to try to get more money for it.  We do the best we can with providing accurate information but mistakes do happen.  We'll take back and refund material at any time, even years after purchase if it was misidentified.

 

Because we sell all types of fossils trilobites, ammonites, dinosaur material it's impossible to be a expert on all of it, so we often have to rely on the opinions of third parties.  We verify what everything thing that we can.  Dinosaur material is particularly tricky because there is so much debate even among experts on the subject as to the identification of certain pieces.  You can show the same individual bone or tooth to three experts, even experts on material from the particular formation and get three different opinions.

 

As to this particular toe Cory Coverdell who is a paleontologist with the Two Medicine Dinosaur center identified it as being Tyrannosaur.  In his opinion just based on size alone it couldn't have been anything else.    

 

I do agree that the mounting done on this piece done by the prepper was not done in the best manner.

[Alex Eve]

I know I’m about a year late, but I’d like to provide a bit of insight to anyone else just passing by. This looks like the metatarsal of digit I, or the digit that would’ve had the dewclaw on the foot. I can confirm this is Tyrannosaurid because Ornithomimids don’t have a first digit on their foot. Hope this helps anyone passing by!

[Troodon]

5 hours ago, Alex Eve said:

I know I’m about a year late, but I’d like to provide a bit of insight to anyone else just passing by. This looks like the metatarsal of digit I, or the digit that would’ve had the dewclaw on the foot. I can confirm this is Tyrannosaurid because Ornithomimids don’t have a first digit on their foot. Hope this helps anyone passing by!

Actually Digit I metatarsal of a Trex is a much shorter and curved bone.  Here are images from the BHI of Stan

 

[Alex Eve]

2 hours ago, Troodon said:

Actually Digit I metatarsal of a Trex is a much shorter and curved bone.  Here are images from the BHI of Stan

 

Oh it definitely wasn’t Tyrannosaurus itself, but because it’s Two Medicine wouldn’t it rather be Daspletosaurus horneri or their Gorgosaurus species? This is a page on Tyrannosaur metatarsals in the Guide to Common Vertebrate Fossils from Cretaceous Alberta, as well as a similar looking metatarsal in the Tyrrell’s collection

[Alex Eve]

1 minute ago, Alex Eve said:

Oh it definitely wasn’t Tyrannosaurus itself, but because it’s Two Medicine wouldn’t it rather be Daspletosaurus horneri or their Gorgosaurus species? This is a page on Tyrannosaur metatarsals in the Guide to Common Vertebrate Fossils from Cretaceous Alberta, as well as a similar looking metatarsal in the Tyrrell’s collection

I should note however, I could see the Tyrrell metatarsal as being a very young Mt III, but based on the morphology I’m assuming Mt I

[Troodon]

Its straight so its a MT III , MT I are very short with a curvature like your illustration shows.

[Alex Eve]

32 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Its straight so its a MT III , MT I are very short with a curvature like your illustration shows.

Oh alright, I see. Never mind then, guess it’s not a dewclaw. Thanks for the correction!