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Some mosasaur teeth; serrated or not?


Thomas.Dodson

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During a recent trip back to W.M Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park in Northern Mississippi (Demopolis Formation, Late Campanian) I collected another mosasaur tooth. While incomplete the condition is still very nice. I am aware of the difficulties in identifying isolated mosasaur teeth but have been attempting it nevertheless. If nothing else I've learned more along the way. Two questions for this tooth. The first is the general question if anyone has an idea about the identification. The second pertains to what qualifies as serrations on mosasaur teeth. There are "crenulations" present on this tooth as I would call them but do these qualify as serrations? Among the mosasaurs reported from the Demopolis (Clidastes propython, Halisaurus sp.,
Mosasaurus conodon, Mosasaurus cf. missouriensis, Platecarpus cf. somenensis, Plioplatecarpus sp., and Tylosaurus sp
.) serrations are a characteristic that reportedly separates the majority of them. However, the lack of all facets on the tooth is somewhat unusual in conjunction with the serrations. Am I exaggerating these crenulations as serrations?

 

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I posted this tooth once before but thought I'd post it again since it it is from the same site as the new one. I have some reason to believe it may be Mosasaurus missouriensis based on the general shape, number of facets, and cross section, but I've also had difficulty finding reference material for M. missouriensis. Any thoughts? Does anyone have reference photos or material for M. missouriensis?

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