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Kimmeridgian marine reptile jaw fragment


Per Christian

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Listed in a sales site is this fossil. It's from the kimmeridgian and measures 3.4 * 4.4 cm long. The seller listed it as a possible marine crocodile, but is it possible it's plesiosaur due to the striations?

 

@pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

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Very interesting piece! Does this come from Abingdon? While it's true that that would make this piece Kimmeridgian and that a lot of pliosaur remains have been found at this site, I think marine crocodile seems more likely. For while the roots have the sight shape and smoothness you'd expect both crocodile and pl(es)iosaur roots to have, the anastomosing enamel on the few visible pieces of tooth crown, the carinae, and robustness of the jaw to me suggest teleosaurid marine crocodile.

 

Hope this helps :)

'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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