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Plesiosaur or pliosaur?


Per Christian

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Hi everyone

 

I came across these teeth on our favorite site. It's listed as plesiosaur and ichthyosaur, but could the plesiosaur be a pliosaur tooth? The ridges are quite pronounced.. The teeth in this set were both found in the Seversk Sandstone in Belgorod, Kursk, Russia

Screenshot_20210731-082843.png

 

 

 

 

Screenshot_20210731-082837.png

Edited by Per Christian
Removed picture with price attached
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Hi,

 

Indicating the price of the seller is not the best idea, the forum does not talk about money. You should modify your last photo.
 
Coco
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23 minutes ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

Indicating the price of the seller is not the best idea, the forum does not talk about money. You should modify your last photo.
 
Coco

Indeed, sorry about that! Edited now

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I've seen these, and it does indeed concern a platypterygiine ichthyosaur (left, recognizable from the rounded plicidentine enamel folds that germinate equidistant to the tooth apex; Platypterygius sp.) and plesiosaur tooth. All the plesiosaur teeth from this locality have the same type of ornamentation, but I haven't yet found any conclusive source as to what kind of plesiosaur they belong to. The striations indeed look sharp and pronounced enough as to suggest pliosaur to me, but the teeth appear too slender to uphold this hypothesis. I've also seen elasmosaur suggested, but those teeth would be labiolingually compressed and have anastomosing enamel on the lingual face only (see image below):

 

2005842577_LargerRussianelasmosaurtooth.jpg.a6bb409768816ed0855954a7f70ddfa6.jpg605014894_SmallerRussianelasmosaurtooth.jpg.0b71a969bfca2101ff0702290632ebe7.jpg

 

Another suggestion I've seen is that they may be polycotylid, which I don't fully support either. Leptocleidid (to which polycotylidae belongs), however, might be a possibility, as these teeth are obviously far removed from Jurassic plesiosaur species (thus, for me, excluding them belonging to colymbosauridae).

 

May be @RuMert has some more useful thoughts in this, though...

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'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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I've never heard about "Seversk Sandstone in Belgorod, Kursk". Belgorod and Kursk are two separate regions. Seversk location doesn't exist there, there's a river called Severskiy Donets (doesn't reach Kursk Oblast though). As Stary Oskol is located in Belgorod Oblast, the seller probably meant the former. I'm not so good at this age and material, looking through Stary Oskol and Shatsk reptile teeth could help

 

Polyptychodon (valid or not)

Leptocleidia

Edited by RuMert
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1 hour ago, RuMert said:

I've never heard about "Seversk Sandstone in Belgorod, Kursk". Belgorod and Kursk are two separate regions.

 

Hahaha! Well spotted! Hadn't even notice that with how obviously these pieces originate at Stary Oskol :heartylaugh:

'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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So i gather from this that it could be pliosaur, but more likely plesiosaur? Really appreciate the feedbacks!

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Yeah, I'd stick with plesiosaur for these teeth, as recognized pliosaur teeth from this locality look distinctly different (source):

 

P1030601.jpg

 

Also, see the below thread for another example and discussion on pliosaur tooth morphology as applicable to Stary Oskol:

 

 

Edited by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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8 minutes ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

Yeah, I'd stick with plesiosaur for these teeth, as recognized pliosaur teeth from this locality look distinctly different (source):

 

P1030601.jpg

 

Also, see the below thread for another example and discussion on pliosaur tooth morphology as applicable to Stary Oskol:

 

 

I'm in awe of your knowledge, thanks again! My search continues

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