Ksar Metlili theropod tooth

[Goldkaiser]

Hi guys I picked up this tooth recently from Morroco. It’s approximately 6cm long (Just a little short)

 

The tooth is said to come from the High atlas region in morroco, Talsint, Figuig province. The Ksar metlili formation (140-152 MYA) making the tooth Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous. On mesial side 10 serrations per 5mm and distal 9 serrations per 5mm. Base of tooth is slightly damaged but looks ovalish. Some wear to top of tooth.

 

I know some of these teeth actually come from the Dekker formation and could possibly be synonymous with the Kem Kem beds - so could the tooth be a carcharadontosaurus? compared to my other two carch teeth from the classic beds the tooth looks different nt as do the serrations look a little different under high magnification 

 

original seller listed it as theropod indet. But said he had done some research and thought it to be similar to Allosaurids (I’m not too sure but I’m not as Familair with these new morrocan teeth)

 

many thanks,

GK

Edited April 24, 2021 by Goldkaiser

[Troodon]

Boy you are seeing more of these on the market and there was one seller at the Tucson show which I avoided because the prices were jurassic/early cret and the teeth looked like Carch.  The real problem is getting a good handle on where they were found....the KM formation is not in Talsint but adjacent to the towns of Anoual and Ksar Metlili.   The real problem is that the KM and Anoual Formation are next to one another along with the Kem Kem Group Dekkar formation.  So you have mid Jurassic and mid Cretaceous deposits in close proximity to late Jurassic/early cret ones so how can one determine where a tooth was found.  Also the KM formation just occupies a small portion of this area.

 

New data on the microvertebrate fauna from the Upper Jurassic or lowest Cretaceous of Ksar Metlili (Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco),  Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2019

Maxime Lasseron et al.
 

I would not trust what any seller is telling you because it's just a guess and he wants to sell you KS material.  Your tooth is an indeterminate theropod and has few features that would say allosaurid.  Looks more like an Abelisaurid or an anterior Carcharodontosaurid but without knowing it's age it's indeterminate.

 

I would avoid teeth from this area if your looking for an ID

[Goldkaiser]

13 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Boy you are seeing more of these on the market and there was one seller at the Tucson show which I avoided because the prices were jurassic/early cret and the teeth looked like Carch.  The real problem is getting a good handle on where they were found....the KM formation is not in Talsint but adjacent to the towns of Anoual and Ksar Metlili.   The real problem is that the KM and Anoual Formation are next to one another along with the Kem Kem Group Dekkar formation.  So you have mid Jurassic and mid Cretaceous deposits in close proximity to late Jurassic/early cret ones so how can one determine where a tooth was found.  Also the KM formation just occupies a small portion of this area.

 

New data on the microvertebrate fauna from the Upper Jurassic or lowest Cretaceous of Ksar Metlili (Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco),  Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2019

Maxime Lasseron et al.
 

I would not trust what any seller is telling you because it's just a guess and he wants to sell you KS material.  Your tooth is an indeterminate theropod and has few features that would say allosaurid.  Looks more like an Abelisaurid or an anterior Carcharodontosaurid but without knowing it's age it's indeterminate.

 

I would avoid teeth from this area

Thanks troodon I knew it might be hard to ID because Of that but wanted one of these new Moroccan theropod teeth so was able to get it fairly cheap (in fact for what I’ve paid for Kem Kem teeth in the past so don’t mind not getting an ID)

 

thanks I’ll keep the label as Indet. Theropod!