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Aquia Formation Croc Tooth ID


HemiHunter

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Yesterday, I found what I think may be a little Pristichampsus tooth.

It is from the Aquia formation on the Virginia side of the Potomac. It looks unusual for a croc tooth for being so laterally-compressed. I can't tell whether it ever had serrations at the base. They may have worn off but there are no obvious ones.  Also, this tooth would match the short piece of juvenile croc jaw I found elsewhere in the Aquia last year which had a similarly-shaped (unerupted) tooth. Any thoughts?

 

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Edited by HemiHunter
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I am not sure this is a planocraniid, lateral compression is uncommon among crocs, but not necessarily restricted to ziphodont species. Serrations in planocraniids are also quite large, much more noticeable than small denticles that are not that rare in various groups of crocodiles (see Boverisuchus tooth below). Some dyrosaurids, on the other hand, had very similar teeth - laterally compressed, long carinae, no striations/ornamentation (see descriptions of Moroccan dyrosaurids in the topic I linked, particularly Arambourgisuchus/Chenanisuchus). Your tooth is different from a known Aquia dyrosaurid, Hyposaurus, because it lacks striations, so it could be a new species, very cool find! 

 

 

 

UCM 98628, ?planocraniid tooth, DeBeque Formation (Tiffanian), Moffat... |  Download Scientific Diagram

The Tooth Fairy

 

 

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I have a few Paleocene croc teeth from the Aquia Formation from the Virginia side of the Potomac River that are very similar to your tooth, and only one of them has visible serrations.   The only thing written on the laterally-compressed teeth that I'm aware of is in the 2014 poster presentation "A REVISION OF THE CROCODILIAN FAUNA OF THE UPPER PALEOCENE AQUIA FORMATION OF VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND DENTON, Robert K. Jr., GeoConcepts Engineering Inc.; WEEMS, Robert E., Paleo Quest; GRIMSLEY, Gary J., Maryland Geological Society".  Below is the presentation and a blow-up of the relevant portion.

 

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Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

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