Squirrelman91 Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Hi everyone! I have a large claw from the Hell Creek Formation of Harding County, South Dakota that I was hoping to have help identifying. It is large enough that I initially believed it stood a chance at being tyrannosaurid, but it seems a bit more compressed than tyrannosaur claws I’ve worked with in the past - particularly on the lower ridge. The ventral surface of the claw is also distinctly flat rather than rounded, which seems unusual. Could this be a Dakotaraptor claw or is that just wishful thinking? Large Anzu perhaps? It is right around 1.75 inches across the length of the claw (sorry, no metrics on this ruler). I have referred to the incredible guide posted by Troodon, and have some experience with various claws, but I still can’t quite come to a conclusion on this one. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DatFossilBoy Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Maybe @Troodon can help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hxmendoza Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Not Dakotaraptor. It doesn’t fit a dromaeosaur hand claw or a dromaeosaur sickle claw. Neither is it tyrannosaur. Best fit is an Anzu hand claw. Below are photos of a cast of an Anzu claw that has a similar placement of the grooves and a mostly flat ventral surface that occurs midway on the length of the hooked claw end. They tend to be more softly rounded to rectangular there, but as this cast shows, the flat surface is within the variability encountered on these claws. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelman91 Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 On 1/9/2021 at 2:48 PM, hxmendoza said: Not Dakotaraptor. It doesn’t fit a dromaeosaur hand claw or a dromaeosaur sickle claw. Neither is it tyrannosaur. Best fit is an Anzu hand claw. Below are photos of a cast of an Anzu claw that has a similar placement of the grooves and a mostly flat ventral surface that occurs midway on the length of the hooked claw end. They tend to be more softly rounded to rectangular there, but as this cast shows, the flat surface is within the variability encountered on these claws. This was very helpful, thank you so much! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hxmendoza Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 3 minutes ago, Squirrelman91 said: This was very helpful, thank you so much! You are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now