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JoeS

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Hi TFF,

I am a Dromaeosauridae enthusiast and have been collecting online for a little while now. I want to thank the members here for getting me educated on so many aspects of fossil teeth identification.
I want to share my small collection in the hopes this is helpful for some of you in the future.

Your critical input is highly appreciated, as always!

 

#1
First up, one of my treasures, a robust Deinonychus antirrhopus tooth from the Cloverly Fm. A big thanks to @StevenJD for letting go of this one – much appreciated! Note the asymmetry in the placement of the carinae, best noticeable from the top view.

 

5f811249e31a3_05_Deinonychus.thumb.jpg.0c735760755b12d9cc097beeaecdaef1.jpg

 

 

#2

Representing the Judith River Fm., a cornerstone of my collection, a 1st left premaxillary tooth of Dromaeosaurus albertensis. I just love the way the mesial carina ‘folds’ onto the lingual surface.

 

5f8112bb934ba_01_Dromaeosaurus_1stpremax.thumb.jpg.58c4edb16fcd13e6571bfbfb8b25a36f.jpg

 

 

#3

Another premaxillary tooth from the Judith River Fm., a Zapsalis abradens with prominent ridges. The mesial carina has a nice twist, the cross section looks rather symmetrical, so likely not a 1st or 2nd premax. Distal denticles are hooked towards the tooth tip, but no mesial denticles are present and the tooth is not recurved. So, for now it is labeled as cf. Zapsalis abradens after Currie and Evans 2019, but could eventually be re-labeled as Saurornitholestes langstoni.

 

5f81144574752_04_cf.Zapsalis_3rdpremax.thumb.jpg.800e77d5039842a9f9a43053fbf6ee7d.jpg

 

 

 

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#4

Continuing with the Judith River Fm., here a classical Saurornitholestes langstoni. The shape of the distal denticles is just amazing.

5f811891d05c6_09_Saurornitholestes.thumb.jpg.52900adbf427bfdf0f698a7640b50028.jpg

 

#5

I love wear facets, and could not pass up on this superb example from the Judith River Fm. Thanks to @DinoFossilsUK for making it available. Most of the serrations are gone, but it does look like a cf. Saurornitholestes langstoni.

5f8118eb441f4_10_Saurornitholestes.thumb.jpg.646f675dd2424305486ea2c0ec7ac1c1.jpg

 

 

#6

Next up some Hell Creek Fm. teeth.

A 2nd premaxillary tooth of cf. Zapsalis abrandens. You can nicely see the flat/concave lingual surface and the convex labial surface. There is also a prominent labiolingual constriction above the root, which merges into the flat lingual surface of the tooth. This tooth morphology has recently been described from the Judith River Fm. (Currie and Evans 2019). These specialized teeth could have been used for preening feathers. The mesial carina is not serrated, and the tooth is not recurved.

 

5f8119323643d_02_cf.Zapsalis_2ndpremax.thumb.jpg.27b23936393bb4c24c1d52c0e1e3bd3c.jpg

 

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#7

The next premaxillary tooth from the Hell Creek Fm. is from an indet. Dromaeosaurid, another mystery tooth. It has a rather flat lingual side, but not as pronounced so maybe 3rd-4th premax? While it is recurved, the shape of denticles and the lack of mesial serrations argue against Acheroraptor in my opinion. Not that sure about Zapsalis either since it is so recurved. Intriguingly, there is no discernable mesial carina, all ridges start away from the tip of the tooth. There are 6 prominent ridges on either side and 3 ridges mesial (!).

 

5f811a71ab18c_03_Dromaeosauridindet_2nd_to_4thpremax.thumb.jpg.a50d70c83195b522d57bf073c19fed02.jpg

 

 

#8

A beautifully preserved Acheroraptor temertyorum tooth from the Hell Creek Fm. I fell for these prominent ridges and that brown color with red hues, has a special place in my collection.

5f811aa820b66_12_Acheroraptor.thumb.jpg.c36dc6ed96e00bdefa05704f208dced2.jpg

 

 

#9

Another Acheroraptor temertyorum tooth from the Hell Creek Fm. It is a beefy tooth with only few and faint ridges, likely from a more posterior position in the jaw.

5f811adaee1e3_11_Acheroraptor.thumb.jpg.1745bc4cd841fcd9a4b1c8290639dd08.jpg

 

 

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#10

Coming to the Two Medicine Fm. This is an indet. Dromaeosaurid. The tooth is extremely compressed; neither denticle count nor denticle shape fit cf. Saurornitholestes or Bambiraptor. A mystery tooth. Sadly, I could not trace the tooth to a specific county, just north-western Montana, the digger is not around anymore, however all the teeth he collected were labeled to be from the Two Medicine Fm.

 

5f811db15bf21_06_Dromaeosauridindet.thumb.jpg.b182bf9fd92d4ac9151d354639bd4736.jpg

 

 

#11

Up next a possible Bambiraptor feinbergum tooth from the Two Medicine Fm., coming from the same collection as #10. It might as well be a cf. Saurornitholestes, however the shape of denticles is different from Saurornitholestes teeth found in the Judith River Fm.

5f811e1a4a040_07_Bambiraptor.thumb.jpg.c164b3ccdf3962ec8edade5192f8533b.jpg

 

 

That's it for now ;)

Happy to get some feedback - I am still learning!

I am always on the lookout for Dromi teeth from rare locations or premaxillary teeth =)

 

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Not an expert on these type teeth but I'm sure Troodon will give you some great feedback. Very nice teeth and I've also been very partial to premaxillary teeth.

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Excellent presentation with your teeth, I'm sure it took some time to format them like you have.  Good examples for others to follow.   I believe your cf Zapsalis teeth from the Hell Creek Fm are most likely premaxillary teeth of Acheroraptor.  My discussions with David Evans support that and remember before he described Acheroraptor they were identified as cf Saurornitholestes.  

 

Your #3 tooth.  Zapsalis is still technically described from the JRF so it an be called Zapsalis abrandens without the cf.  or cf Saurornitholestes.  Either works

 

 

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2 hours ago, Troodon said:

Excellent presentation with your teeth, I'm sure it took some time to format them like you have.  Good examples for others to follow.   I believe your cf Zapsalis teeth from the Hell Creek Fm are most likely premaxillary teeth of Acheroraptor.  My discussions with David Evans support that and remember before he described Acheroraptor they were identified as cf Saurornitholestes.  

 

Your #3 tooth.  Zapsalis is still technically described from the JRF so it an be called Zapsalis abrandens without the cf.  or cf Saurornitholestes.  Either works

 

 

Thanks @Troodon. About the HC teeth, I sorted them into the Zapsalis bin since they do not have denticles on the mesial carina, but very good to know. Would it then be safe to assume that eventually Zapsalis teeth, which are as far as I know only premax teeth, will be referred to as Acheroraptor or Saurornitholestes depending on the Formation? Currie and Evans 2019 still make a distinction on the basis of recurved or not and the presence of denticles on the mesial carina. Very interesting.

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2 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Very nice collection,  great presentation, text book. Thanks for sharing.  :thumbsu:

 

12 hours ago, Dracorex_hogwartsia said:

Not an expert on these type teeth but I'm sure Troodon will give you some great feedback. Very nice teeth and I've also been very partial to premaxillary teeth.

 

12 hours ago, bcfossilcollector said:

Magnificent teeth!!!  Thank you for sharing. :wub:

 
Thank you, these teeth have just so many details to them - wanted to share every aspect  ;) 
It was pretty hard to ID them when I first started collecting and to find good images, so I tried to help with that aspect. A special thanks to the invaluable guides from @Troodon and @-Andy- here on TFF!

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17 minutes ago, JoeS said:

Thanks @Troodon. About the HC teeth, I sorted them into the Zapsalis bin since they do not have denticles on the mesial carina, but very good to know. Would it then be safe to assume that eventually Zapsalis teeth, which are as far as I know only premax teeth, will be referred to as Acheroraptor or Saurornitholestes depending on the Formation? Currie and Evans 2019 still make a distinction on the basis of recurved or not and the presence of denticles on the mesial carina. Very interesting.

The missing denticles on the mesial carina is not a deal breaker the rest of the tooth says Zapsalis, the distal serrations are key.   Yes they all should be identified as something else but we will need hard evidence , a premax jaw or skull  to make that claim official in all the formations so its all about new discoveries. Also in the HC Although we need to see what the premaxillary teeth of Dakotaraptor look like they may be very different.  

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Excellent collection and as Frank said, very well presented. Not only is this a great way to display your own teeth but this will help other collectors down the road. Well done !!

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One of the most informative threads on Dromy teeth I've seen. Your teeth are beautiful

Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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#11, the cf. Bambiraptor tooth is really interesting. Awesome collection and hope you continue to build on it :) 

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3 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Excellent collection and as Frank said, very well presented. Not only is this a great way to display your own teeth but this will help other collectors down the road. Well done !!

Thank you very much, I do also enjoy your educational displays, it's just a lot of fun to try to pass something on.

 

3 hours ago, -Andy- said:

One of the most informative threads on Dromy teeth I've seen. Your teeth are beautiful

Thanks, as mentioned before your raptor thread showed me the way ;)

 

3 hours ago, jpc said:

Excellent photography and good work learning how to ID these things.  Someday I will do the same with mine.  

Thanks, it only took a pandemic to find some time to put this together :)

 

2 hours ago, Runner64 said:

#11, the cf. Bambiraptor tooth is really interesting. Awesome collection and hope you continue to build on it :) 

Thank you, yes #11 was actually the second Dromaeosaur tooth in my collection, still waiting for anything to be published that describes Bambiraptor teeth in detail, especially the denticles.

 

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On 10/11/2020 at 5:50 PM, PaleoNoel said:

Great thread and great teeth! Nice collection. 

 

On 10/11/2020 at 7:18 PM, Ludwigia said:

Great collection and excellent photos!

 

Thanks so much! I'll keep updating ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of the better presentations I’ve ever seen on this forum. As others have said I know the formatting took time but by golly it looks amazing. Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. And as a lover of premax teeth that Dromaeosaurus premax made my heart skip a beat. 

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On 10/26/2020 at 7:07 PM, StevenJD said:

Great collection of dromy teeth @JoeS!

 

13 hours ago, Captcrunch227 said:

One of the better presentations I’ve ever seen on this forum. As others have said I know the formatting took time but by golly it looks amazing. Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. And as a lover of premax teeth that Dromaeosaurus premax made my heart skip a beat. 


thank you for the kind words! let's see when I come across new rare specimens to put up here, it's getting harder ;)
The whole process of displaying these teeth is really a lot of fun and makes me appreciate them even more.
That Dromaeosaurus premax was sold as juvenile Tyrannosaurid, I was so happy when @Troodon confirmed my suspicions.

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22 minutes ago, jpc said:

#7... I have always thought these with the flat striated face are Paranychodon.  

Thoughts?

 

indeed, Paronychodon-type teeth have a flat lingual surface and bear ridges, however they do not have denticles. @Troodon eluded to the fact that these might be of Pterosaur origin.
Serrated teeth with a flat surface are pooled together as (cf.) Zapsalis abradens. Some of those teeth from the Judith River Fm have recently been described by Currie and Evans as Saurornitholestes premax teeth.

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6 hours ago, JoeS said:

indeed, Paronychodon-type teeth have a flat lingual surface and bear ridges, however they do not have denticles. @Troodon eluded to the fact that these might be of Pterosaur origin.
Serrated teeth with a flat surface are pooled together as (cf.) Zapsalis abradens. Some of those teeth from the Judith River Fm have recently been described by Currie and Evans as Saurornitholestes premax teeth.

thx for the info

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