New Smallest Theropod in my Collection

[PaleoNoel]

Hi everyone. Tonight I'd Iike to share my most recent find: an absolutely tiny theropod tooth I found late at night sorting through what remains of the Aguja fm. matrix I purchased last year. I knew it would pay to be thorough and I was delighted to see the glint of enamel in a triangular shape eventually appear. Additionally, it has just taken the crown (no pun intended) for smallest theropod tooth in my collection, at only 2 mm in length and just over 1 mm in width. I'd be interested in reading your opinions on it's identity, I'm thinking either dromaeosaur or troodontid but I'm not sure.

 

A pic of the tooth after isolating it from the surrounding dirt. 

Now compared to my other tiny Aguja tooth 

And my previous smallest tooth from the Lance

[ThePhysicist]

Cool tooth! I've yet to find any theropod in my Aguja matrix. I would vote against Troodontid as I don't see the typical hooked serrations. I'd say it's more likely to be Dromaeosaurid, possibly cf. Dromaeosaurus sp., or cf. Saurornitholestes sp. 

 

A-C: Cf. Saurornitholestes sp.

D-F: Cf. Ricardoestesia sp.

G-I: Cf. Dromaeosaurus sp.

^http://www.jstor.org/stable/4523473

[Troodon]

Serration density looks the same on each carina, eyeballing it, lacks compression and crown is not recurved so that would eliminate a Dromaeosaurid.  Its not a Troodontid, denticles are the wrong shape and too many .  The base area is pretty robust for its size and has chisel shaped denticles so my guess is Tyrannosaurid.  What does the base view look like ?  Super nice tooth congrats. 

The longer one looks like a possible cf Saurornitholestes 

[PaleoNoel]

22 hours ago, ThePhysicist said:

Cool tooth! I've yet to find any theropod in my Aguja matrix. I would vote against Troodontid as I don't see the typical hooked serrations. I'd say it's more likely to be Dromaeosaurid, possibly cf. Dromaeosaurus sp., or cf. Saurornitholestes sp. 

 

A-C: Cf. Saurornitholestes sp.

D-F: Cf. Ricardoestesia sp.

G-I: Cf. Dromaeosaurus sp.

16 hours ago, Troodon said:

Serration density looks the same on each carina, eyeballing it, lacks compression and crown is not recurved so that would eliminate a Dromaeosaurid.  Its not a Troodontid, denticles are the wrong shape and too many .  The base area is pretty robust for its size and has chisel shaped denticles so my guess is Tyrannosaurid.  What does the base view look like ?  Super nice tooth congrats. 

The longer one looks like a possible cf Saurornitholestes 

^http://www.jstor.org/stable/4523473

Thanks! I'll get a pic of the base tomorrow. Serration density seems pretty similar on both sides, but I'll still measure it just to check. Must have been one tiny Tyrannosaur, maybe even a baby.

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by PaleoNoel

[ThePhysicist]

That'd be awesome if this is Tyrannosaur. Might be worth asking some professionals? The smallest Tyrannosaur teeth I've seen described are from here. Except, they didn't have distinct serrations unfortunately as they were likely embryonic. The authors described them as "bell-shaped."

[Troodon]

Might be something else but when you eliminate several other candidates like Dromaeosaurids, Troodontids who knows might be one.   Hard to tell if part of the base is missing which leads me to think this could be a developing tooth, no signs it was functional so it might not be from a baby.

[RuMert]

 

8 hours ago, PaleoNoel said:

Thanks! I'll get a pic of the base tomorrow. Serration density seems pretty similar on both sides, but I'll still measure it just to check. Must have been one tiny Tyrannosaur, maybe even a baby.

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by RuMert