Jump to content

Tooth or claw found in south eastern Utah


John in Utah

Recommended Posts

Found this in the Chinle Formation outside Moab, Utah. About 3/4" (19mm) long and 1/4" (6mm) wide at the base

752425108_fossilcap.JPG.b08d79aaee1b4390e6c0a72f1f6ff55e.JPG

  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like a tooth, can you get a close up pic of the base and are there bumps on front  or back edge?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not serrated on the edges from what I can see. Some more photos below, can't really see the base unfortunately 

 

117900369_fossilcap2.JPG.9b842f3477e4c6a38d6b0957024d6247.JPG233972774_fossilcap3.JPG.2ebc5af7e33e8d4a85daacc75193128d.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure phytosaurs had carinae, or serrations.

Looks similar to Google images of phytosaur teeth.

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isolated triassic teeth can be very hard to ID because of the similarity between them.  Heckert describes phytosaur teeth into four types caniniform, serrated, unserrated and blade.   Unserrated ones are fluted with ridges extending from the base to tip which does appear to be what you have.  Not a lot of real experts around especially online sites.

 

My suggestion is to contact Heckert directly and get his opinion, I've attached his info.

 

 

https://earth.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/dr-andrew-b-heckert

  • I found this Informative 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone for all the help, I'm learning a lot. 
 

This site is close to home so I plan to go back and look some more. Here are some photos of other interesting rocks I sawCA9805E0-BED3-4C2A-8C85-8730B09C97D5.thumb.jpeg.3b1075c8c9823c887b855280f1d7ae32.jpeg4DE4AED2-5AFB-4EC3-A24E-B7BA63771E6A.thumb.jpeg.34b3049739f54f0df82dbb174e9abe89.jpeg

BC937CBD-8620-428E-843E-CF61BD5ED241.thumb.jpeg.3e118cd36568722c0f6b4c9a634a70db.jpeg

 

  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That matrix looks a lot like the Chinle in southwest Colorado, a local unit called the "saurian conglomerate." Might even be the same unit depending where you are in Utah.

 

Nice tooth, I'd agree this is probably phytosaur but there are so many new weird reptiles in the Chinle that it's really hard to know for sure. Additionally, the more northern parts of the Chinle are much more poorly known than the New Mexico and Arizona deposits.

 

As others have said, Andy Heckert might be able to steer you in the right direction taxon-wise.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...