Jump to content

North Sulphur tooth ID


HotSauceCommittee

Recommended Posts

Hi all! I picked up this little beauty (14mm at its longest) last week at the North Sulphur River. Unfortunately, it’s not complete, but I like it anyway. I immediately assumed it was Mosasaur (I have been a regular hunter at that location for a few years), but now I am second guessing myself. Can someone confirm or refute? 
 

Apologies in advance if there are any issues with the photos; I am posting directly from my phone, so hopefully they are not too large, but good enough quality. 

0E9C3905-6562-4485-9E6A-0339E9BCDF62.jpeg

C208D73D-154F-47FE-B17A-B38311722912.jpeg

F442838F-A062-41AE-A7AA-7C63FF8CAAFC.jpeg

  • Enjoyed 2

[ . . .] to a naturalist who is reading in the face of the rocks the annals of a former world, the mossy covering which obstructs his view, and renders indistinguishable the different species of stone, is no less than a serious subject of regret. - James Hutton

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoa. What you've got there is a very rare mosasaur tooth from NSR, a Globidens sp. These were mosasaurs with "crushing" teeth well-suited for eating armored food like ammonites and baculites.

 

Note that the enamel texture differs from that of the other mosasaurs in the Ozan - it's beaded, especially near the tip. Its stout and bulbous shape is also different. It may be a posterior. Compare to other Globidens found in NE TX:

 

P1470183-1000.jpeg.bfa0ba1a55f0570383c8fa0c4d31241d.jpeg

Tera-Globidens1.jpeg.1aebf0a0a8d76295b192c3a9c9c1958a.jpeg

^ from http://northtexasfossils.com/reptilia2.htm

Edited by ThePhysicist
  • I found this Informative 3
  • Thank You 1

"Argumentation cannot suffice for the discovery of new work, since the subtlety of Nature is greater many times than the subtlety of argument." - Carl Sagan

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." - Richard Feynman

 

Collections: Hell Creek Microsite | Hell Creek/Lance | Dinosaurs | Sharks | SquamatesPost Oak Creek | North Sulphur RiverLee Creek | Aguja | Permian | Devonian | Triassic | Harding Sandstone

Instagram: @thephysicist_tff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, ThePhysicist said:

Whoa. What you've got there is a very rare mosasaur tooth from NSR, a Globidens sp. These were mosasaurs with "crushing" teeth well-suited for eating armored food like ammonites and baculites.

 

Note that the enamel texture differs from that of the other mosasaurs in the Ozan - it's beaded, especially near the tip. Its stout and bulbous shape is also different. It may be a posterior. Compare to other Globidens found in NE TX:

 

 

Thank you for the reply! Funny enough, I'm (moderately) familiar with Globidens but haven't thought of them in so long it never once occurred to me. I typically have such terrible luck with finding teeth of any kind that I don't think about them much (inverts, on the other hand, seem to be disproportionately attracted to me, lol). The beading you mentioned near the tip is actually what made me second-guess myself. I've had Globidens on my wish list for a while now, so this made my day!

Edited by HotSauceCommittee
typo

[ . . .] to a naturalist who is reading in the face of the rocks the annals of a former world, the mossy covering which obstructs his view, and renders indistinguishable the different species of stone, is no less than a serious subject of regret. - James Hutton

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, ThePhysicist said:

Whoa. What you've got there is a very rare mosasaur tooth from NSR, a Globidens sp. These were mosasaurs with "crushing" teeth well-suited for eating armored food like ammonites and baculites.

 

Note that the enamel texture differs from that of the other mosasaurs in the Ozan - it's beaded, especially near the tip. Its stout and bulbous shape is also different. It may be a posterior. Compare to other Globidens found in NE TX:

 

P1470183-1000.jpeg.bfa0ba1a55f0570383c8fa0c4d31241d.jpeg

Tera-Globidens1.jpeg.1aebf0a0a8d76295b192c3a9c9c1958a.jpeg

^ from http://northtexasfossils.com/reptilia2.htm

That’s what I was thinking, but I wasn’t sure they were found there. Incredibly rare find! Congrats,@HotSauceCommittee!! I’d definitely enter it in the fossil of the month contest!

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that you should enter it in the Fossil of the Month Jessica!

 Julianna

  • I Agree 1
 
12-2023TFFsig.png.193bff42034b9285e960cff49786ba4e.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Familyroadtrip said:

That’s what I was thinking, but I wasn’t sure they were found there. Incredibly rare find! Congrats,@HotSauceCommittee!! I’d definitely enter it in the fossil of the month contest!

 

16 minutes ago, old bones said:

I agree that you should enter it in the Fossil of the Month Jessica!

 Julianna

 

Thank you both; I think I just might!

  • Enjoyed 1

[ . . .] to a naturalist who is reading in the face of the rocks the annals of a former world, the mossy covering which obstructs his view, and renders indistinguishable the different species of stone, is no less than a serious subject of regret. - James Hutton

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...