Solnhofen tooth: Reptile or fish?

[gigantoraptor]

Hello all

 

My friend recently got this tooth from the famous Solnhofen Plattenkalk, and he really wants to know what the tooth belonged to. He is hoping for something like Archaeopteryx or Compsognathus.

I personally don't think it belongs to either of those (although I love this tooth, it's very beautifel), but can't really tell which it is. I've heard everything ranging from dinosaur to fish for this one. Could any of you help?

 

Specifics of the tooth:

Size: 9mm

Age: Thitonian (Late Jurassic)

Seems to be unserrated

Has some kind of 'ditch' similar to what you see on teeth of Acheroraptor temertyorum. 

 

These two pictures are all I have, got them from my friend and they are the same the seller used.

 

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Enlarged, cropped and contrasted:

 

[FossilDAWG]

@oilshale is very familiar with the Solnhofen fauna, he may be able to help.

 

Don

[abyssunder]

Maybe the other side may look similar to the one below? 

[dsalles]

2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

@oilshale is very familiar with the Solnhofen fauna, he may be able to help.

 

Don

Oilshale is hopefully just taking some time off - he hasn't been online for several weeks. 
Are you sure the tooth is from Solnhofen - the rock looks more like Painten.
The tooth could be from Dakosaurus: http://www.solnhofen-fossilienatlas.de/fossil.php?fossilid=2068

[gigantoraptor]

12 hours ago, abyssunder said:

Maybe the other side may look similar to the one below? 

The Stone looks really familiar, but I think the tooth of my friend is more robust.

 

10 hours ago, dsalles said:

Oilshale is hopefully just taking some time off - he hasn't been online for several weeks. 
Are you sure the tooth is from Solnhofen - the rock looks more like Painten.
The tooth could be from Dakosaurus: http://www.solnhofen-fossilienatlas.de/fossil.php?fossilid=2068

I don't think it's Dakosaurus. It's not round, it's more oval like a theropod tooth. Also I doesn't have those striations. 

 

And it's indeed from Painten.

 

 

[siteseer]

Are the cutting edges serrated?

[Abstraktum]

If it's from Painten then maybe a Sciurumimus albersdoerferi?

 

Here is the only known fossil. However your tooth is not as curved as the teeth from S. albersdoerferi and as far as I am aware there are no isolated teeth found from S. albersdoerferi.  

There is literally olny this one complete fossil of a juvenile. 

 

[gigantoraptor]

1 hour ago, siteseer said:

Are the cutting edges serrated?

No serrations at all.

 

48 minutes ago, Abstraktum said:

If it's from Painten then maybe a Sciurumimus albersdoerferi?

Actually not thought of this one. It has unserrated Teeth, just like the one of my friend.

I found this close-up of the teeth of the holotype. Biggest difference is I think the size difference. It's 3 times smaller.

 

[Abstraktum]

The holotype is just a juvenile. 

 

Adults are estimated to be around 7 meters (nearly 23 feet) long. 

[gigantoraptor]

13 minutes ago, Abstraktum said:

The holotype is just a juvenile. 

 

Adults are estimated to be around 7 meters (nearly 23 feet) long. 

It could fit between a juvenile and an adult.

 

@Troodon, do you think this is a dinosaur tooth?

[Troodon]

I'm not familiar with Dino material from that locality.  On the surface I would lean against it being Sciurumimus simply because the distal surface is not recurved but rather straight.  However I'm not sure what the complete dentition looks like..  Without serrations its a difficult call.  I would suggest contacting someone familiar with Solnhofen like Oliver W. Rauhut who might give you an answer.  

[gigantoraptor]

11 minutes ago, Troodon said:

I'm not familiar with Dino material from that locality.  On the surface I would lean against it being Sciurumimus simply because the distal surface is not recurved but rather straight.  However I'm not sure what the complete dentition looks like..  Without serrations its a difficult call.  I would suggest contacting someone familiar with Solnhofen like Oliver W. Rauhut who might give you an answer.  

Thank you, I'll contact him. So you are in the dino camp on this one?

[Troodon]

No its unknown what it is.  There are no unambiguous features that say its clearly its Dinosaurian. If you get a response let us know.

[dsalles]

7 hours ago, gigantoraptor said:

The Stone looks really familiar, but I think the tooth of my friend is more robust.

 

I don't think it's Dakosaurus. It's not round, it's more oval like a theropod tooth. Also I doesn't have those striations. 

 

And it's indeed from Painten.

 

 

Only the dental side of a Dakosaurus tooth is striated - the labial side is smooth.

[abyssunder]

[gigantoraptor]

On 23-8-2020 at 4:55 PM, Troodon said:

No its unknown what it is.  There are no unambiguous features that say its clearly its Dinosaurian. If you get a response let us know.

According to Dr. Oliver W. Rauhut, this is a crocodile tooth, probably of a geosaurine metriorhynchid.

 

Unfortunately for my friend, this is not what he wanted, so I traded with him for a dinosaur tooth (which is what he wanted). The piece is now in my collection and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

 

[Troodon]

Excellent thanks for the feedback and a very quick response   Its a nice tooth and a super addition to your collection.  I'm sure you are thrilled to have it.