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Theropod teeth with no ID


Sauroniops

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So I bought these tooth-fragments at a fossil show back in December in Hamburg, Germany. The seller had a lot of different fossils, including a huge ilium bone of a sauropod from the Kem Kem beds, as well as a tibia from a large indet. theropod (Which according to the seller was Spinosaurus). Other than that, he sold large tooth fragments from the Montana, Hell Creek formation, probably Rex, but no complete Rex teeth. Some dromaeosaurid teeth from the Hell Creek formation, and various herbivorous dinosaur teeth from the same formation too. A lot of ichthyosaur bones from Dotternhausen, Germany. Some fossil amphibian skulls, can't remember where from or what species exact, some of them were still in a matrix, the bones were almost red and looked a bit similar to that of Eryops. 

 

He also sold small plastic containers of tooth fragments from China/Mongolia, labelled "Tarbosaurus". I bought one of these containers. The seller told me they were collected near the border between China and Mongolia. I was never truly sure if they were 100% Tarbosaurus, could literally be any other theropod. And considering there was no specific location or formation, it's really hard to tell what I've actually bought. I've had some people write to me, wanting to buy the fragments, and have each and every time told them, that I really can't know for sure what these fragments belonged to.

 

Just recently I bumped into this tooth (as seen below here) online for sale:

African-T-Rex-Carcharodontosaurus-Dinosaur-Tooth-2-amp-1-2-in-REAL

African-T-Rex-Carcharodontosaurus-Dinosaur-Tooth-2-amp-1-2-in-REAL

 

It is described as a Carcharodontosaurus indet. tooth from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco. And the coloration looked oddly similar to one of the fragments I bought at the fossil show. Now, before you say anything, I know that coloration varies a lot within every location, and some locations may yield fossils that look identical in coloration to other locations' fossils, but I just thought the reddish tone underneath the enamel seemed very familiar in regards to especially 1 of the fragments, which is a partial tooth, and also the most complete one from the little container I bought. (See the partial tooth below):

 

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The tooth on the above pictures has the following serration counts:

Mesial carinae: ~18 serrations per cm, roughly 2 per mm.

Distal carinae: ~20 serrations per cm, roughly 2 per mm.

 

It measures:

2,5 cm at its longest dimension.

1,4 cm wide.

About 0,9 cm thick at the thickest point.

 

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After seeing the picture of the Carcharodontosaurus indet. tooth for sale, I thought maybe this could be a Kem Kem tooth too. Anyone who's got a guess or a hunch?

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I am not certain serration density will help you differentiate these teeth from Carcharodontosaurids, denticle morphology on the other hand could be more useful. Also, I have seen dinosaur material from Nemegt formation with similar coloration, so I don't think preservation and matrix will help either. Best way to know the locality in such situations is always to verify with the original seller/finder if they are knowledgeable and trustworthy, if not then it's Theropoda indet.

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The Tooth Fairy

 

 

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Agree Theropod indet.   Fragments of theropod teeth without a provenance are pretty difficult to identify.  Coloration is similar to teeth I've see from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.

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