Small jaw section dinosaur park formation

[MedicineHat 177]

Hello, 

My 9 year old son found this cool jaw section. It may be coincidental, but beside it was an ankylosaur tooth, partially rooted. We are unsure if it was associated. Perhaps someone will find this interesting or know more. Will post more photos if necessary.

[Fossildude19 14,852]

A few more photos of both sides, bottom, and front and back would be helpful. 

Also, something for size reference?

[MedicineHat 177]

3 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

A few more photos of both sides, bottom, and front and back would be helpful. 

Also, something for size reference?

 

[MedicineHat 177]

[MedicineHat 177]

[MedicineHat 177]

The nodosaur tooth was not found in the jaw. We set it up for fun. We couldn't help it...it just fit so nicely

[jpc 4,125]

That is very unnusual (at least to me).  the teeth, what little is there look like varanid lizard, but that would be a big Cretaceous dinosaur.  I am not familiar with the DP fauna, but if there s a large varanid known from there... then that is what I would call it.

[Troodon 19,384]

Nice find but its not does not look like a Nodosaur jaw.    

 

Here is a Nodosaur from Spain

 

 

The Basal Nodosaurid Ankylosaur Europelta carbonensis
n. gen., n. sp. from the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian)
Escucha Formation of Northeastern Spain
James I. Kirkland, Luis Alcala, Mark A. Loewen, Eduardo Espı´lez, Luis Mampel, Jelle P. Wiersma

 

[dinosaur man 596]

17 hours ago, jpc said:

That is very unnusual (at least to me).  the teeth, what little is there look like varanid lizard, but that would be a big Cretaceous dinosaur.  I am not familiar with the DP fauna, but if there s a large varanid known from there... then that is what I would call it.

I agree I would probably say it’s Palaeosaniwa sp. or something similar 

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 309]

Awesome find! But, yeah, as has been pointed out, the tooth and jaw don't go together. I think Dinosaur Man's suggestion of Palaeosaniwa sp. could be a very good suggestion.

[jpc 4,125]

Edit... I meant a big Cretaceous varanid, not dinosaur.  

I will try to look into the size of Paleosaniwa.

 

 

 

[Troodon 19,384]

Any chance this is a Champsosaurus jaw section

 

[jpc 4,125]

Ooh, I like that... champsosaur, but I would like to see a side view of the champsosaur dentary.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 309]

Oh wow, haven't ever seen too much Champsosaur material, but nice plate!

 

I too like the suggestion. Sounds very possible, though not the symphysial part, I think, as both sides of the mandible look flat, with no trace of where it would have went...

[Troodon 19,384]

14 hours ago, jpc said:

Ooh, I like that... champsosaur, but I would like to see a side view of the champsosaur dentary.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 309]

For comparison, here are some photographs of a Champsosaurus lemoinei specimen in the Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen in Brussels.

 

 

OP's specimen seems rather small compared to this, but could potentially be from either a subadult, juvenile or different species of champsosaur. Also, by comparison to the Brussels' specimen (thickness, angularity and spacing of teeth), I'd say the jaw section could have only come from the middle of the mandible, if champsosaur it is at all... Now, if only we could get some similar images of Palaeosaniwa sp. to compare against, we could determine how well that suggestion holds up

[Troodon 19,384]

From Derek Larson ROM

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 309]

Could just be me, but looks deeper/taller than the champsosaur. However, the thickness of the jaw versus the size of the teeth, as well as the spacing between them seems quite similar to OPs jaw. But this could, of course, just depend on the location along the jaw (that is, I'm assuming the above specimen is a fragment)... Still, I need to agree, champsosaur seems a better match.

[MedicineHat 177]

On 2020-11-03 at 7:25 PM, Troodon said:

Any chance this is a Champsosaurus jaw section

 

This looks identical from what I can tell...champsasaur vertebra all over the place...why not a small jaw plate?!

[MedicineHat 177]

22 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

For comparison, here are some photographs of a Champsosaurus lemoinei specimen in the Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen in Brussels.

 

 

OP's specimen seems rather small compared to this, but could potentially be from either a subadult, juvenile or different species of champsosaur. Also, by comparison to the Brussels' specimen (thickness, angularity and spacing of teeth), I'd say the jaw section could have only come from the middle of the mandible, if champsosaur it is at all... Now, if only we could get some similar images of Palaeosaniwa sp. to compare against, we could determine how well that suggestion holds up

Thanks for sharing! Very cool. I think it's possible it could be champsosaur. There are lots of marine dinosaurs such as gar croc turtle sturgeon and others in the area. I know nothing about the mammals or amphibians and other small reptiles. I'm used to identifying /collecting more big stuff

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon 309]

3 hours ago, MedicineHat said:

Thanks for sharing! Very cool. I think it's possible it could be champsosaur. There are lots of marine dinosaurs such as gar croc turtle sturgeon and others in the area.

 

3 hours ago, MedicineHat said:

This looks identical from what I can tell...champsasaur vertebra all over the place...why not a small jaw plate?!

Looks like this mystery is solved then