Ischyrhiza mira?

[readinghiker]

Hey everyone,

  I am trying to identify this tooth.  My first guess would be an Ischyrhiza mira oral tooth, since I have a rostral tooth from the same site.

But it also looks somewhat like the proposed Onchosaurus oral tooth as illustrated in Bourdon, et. al. (2011) page 39 tooth D.

Or I could be completely off and it is some kind of orectolobid.  What say you?

 

 

[TRout]

I am not familiar with teeth from New Mexico so I can’t narrow it down to species, but this tooth looks like an angelshark tooth (squatiniformes) to me, though orectolobiformes could be possible as well. I believe Ischyrhiza mira and onchosaurus oral teeth have bilobate roots, which it appears this tooth does not have, though a picture of the back of the root might help

[readinghiker]

Thanks for your reply!  The problem is that there is no root, as it has worn or broken off.  Of the close to 20,000 teeth of all species that has come from this site, only a couple of dozen have complete roots.  This site was originally a barrier island, and I guess the wave action did a number on the teeth!

 

Randy