Tyrannosaurus rex teeth rare or not?

[Fossil Maniac]

Hello Eveyrbody! I have a question about Tyrannosaurus rex teeth. A recent study has shown that T.Rex accounted for about 24% of the creatures in the hell creek formation. T.Rex were more common then edmontosaurus. Yet it is usually the most expensive fossil you can get from the hell creek/lance creek. So if Edmontosaurus were less common then T.rex then how come their fossils are way cheaper?

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Fossil Maniac said:

Hello Eveyrbody! I have a question about Tyrannosaurus rex teeth. A recent study has shown that T.Rex accounted for about 24% of the creatures in the hell creek formation. T.Rex were more common then edmontosaurus. Yet it is usually the most expensive fossil you can get from the hell creek/lance creek. So if Edmontosaurus were less common then T.rex then how come their fossils are way cheaper?

Because Tyrannosuarus rex is the most popular and well known dinosaur, and therefore fossil, in the world. 

Many more people want a tooth from this than an Edmontosaurus that almost nobody will even have heard of. 

Also carnivorous gnashy teethies are sexier than a herbivore's.  

Edited May 29, 2022 by Tidgy's Dad

[Fossil Maniac]

I also forgot to mention that T.Rex lost 100's of teeth in it's lifetime.

[Kikokuryu]

37 minutes ago, Fossil Maniac said:

A recent study has shown that T.Rex accounted for about 24% of the creatures in the hell creek formation.

I'm willing to bet the study lumps in Nanotyrannus material as Tyrannosaurus. Nanotyrannus teeth are not expensive and rather common. So if you're in the Nanotyrannus = Tyrannosaurus, than you're in luck. Grab a Nano at a cheap cost and call it a day.

 

True Rex teeth are expensive simply due to pop culture. Although the really small ones under an inch can be fairly affordable as well. But a good sized rex, especially a full sized, fully rooted tooth is far more expensive than theropods that are actually rare like Baryonyx, Chenanisaurus, Ceratosaurus, Appalachiosaurus, or 3"+ Daspletosaurus. More expensive than limited supply Tyrannosaurs like Tarbosaurus, Alioramus, Yutyrannus, and Albertosaurus that are only from old collection (or illegally smuggled). Not sure how much a big and complete Acrocanthosaurus stands up to a perfect rex.

 

Tyrannosaurus rex I feel like is one of those dinosaurs no one should be in a huge rush to get since we will likely have a steady supply in the foreseeable future.

[jpc]

I have spent many years collecting in the lance and have found more edmontosaurus partial skeletons than rex partials, so i would love to see this study.  As for teeth, duckbill teeth are far more common than all theropod teeth

[Troodon]

I also love to see this study.  Ceratopsians, like Triceratops have always dominated a Hell Creek census

Walter Stein study 2020.  In this study Tyrannosauridae included both Trex and Nanotyrannus

 

The valuation around fossils associated  with Trex has nothing to do with rarity but the aura around this animal.   

 

[ThePhysicist]

I believe the study in question mentioned by the OP is this one included in the Wikipedia page for Hell Creek (open-access): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016574

[Fossil Maniac]

8 minutes ago, ThePhysicist said:

I believe the study in question mentioned by the OP is this one included in the Wikipedia page for Hell Creek (open-access): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016574

yeah thats the study

[JBkansas]

Population dynamics wise, herbivores should always outnumber predators in a stable population.

[Paleoworld-101]

6 hours ago, ThePhysicist said:

I believe the study in question mentioned by the OP is this one included in the Wikipedia page for Hell Creek (open-access): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016574

 

Without looking too much into it, the results of that study have always struck me as odd for the reasons already stated in this thread. Tyrannosaurus being more common than Edmontosaurus sounds plain illogical, but if the numbers really support that (and that's assuming this study did everything perfectly and the sample sizes were large), it's pretty intriguing from a ecological perspective. Alternatively, some sort of bias towards Tyrannosaurus preservation (or collection by people) is at play. 

[Troodon]

If you look at the more recent, broader looking and more relevant Stein study, one of the areas they address isolated bones and teeth in institutions and private hands (what is mostly available in the commercial market).  Herbivores win hands down and demonstrate the impact of quite a few Hadrosaur bone beds in Lance/HC deposits.  This of course has a direct impact on the commercial value of these dinosaurs where Edmontosaurus teeth and bones are viewed as common and theropod ones more treasured.   Unfortunately the valuation placed on Trex material has nothing to do with any of this....

 

[Rock Hound]

It's because T Rex, is THE Icon for all meat eating dinosaurs; and for many people, all dinosaurs period.

 

Spinosaurus teeth, are the common collector's alternative for large meat eating dinosaurs.  They are probably sold by the bucket full; on a regular basis, in Morocco.  We'd all still like to own a T Rex tooth, but they are very expensive.

[siteseer]

14 hours ago, Fossil Maniac said:

yeah thats the study

 

We have to be careful summarizing a scientific paper.  Just on the first page, it notes that Tyrannosaurus partial skeletons are more common than Edmontosaurus only in the lower third of the Hell Creek Formation.  You'd really have to read the whole paper to get the full story.

 

That claim of Tyrannosaurus being so common certainly didn't sound right to me.  If its remains were so common, why were only 6-7 skeletons known until the last 30 years?  Its teeth have always been prized by collectors.  If it were so common, we would have seen Troodon show off several specimens in his Hell Creek trip reports.  He seems to find mostly hadrosaur bones as we would expect.  It's true a lot more Tyrannosaurus stuff has been found recently but that's because it's been like a gold rush out there after "Sue" sold for millions of dollars - all kinds of collectors and gamblers out there looking.  You end up realizing you're lucky to find a few beat-up hadrosaur teeth and crumbling bones in your few hours in the treeless badlands - just a few flecks of gold just like the average treasure hunter of any stripe tends to find in the field.