Raptor teeth?

[Mai-k]

Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum and fossils in general and was hoping to get an ID on two fossil teeth that were labeled as “raptor” teeth. I’m still learning some terminology, so forgive me if I mislabel something. Thank you in advance!

both are said to be from the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco, although the darker brown one has a specific location in Taouz, Kem Kem Basin, Morocco. Distal edge above.mesial edge above. 
distal edge above.mesial edge above.

[Opabinia Blues]

Small theropod teeth just like this from the Kem Kem Beds are frequently sold as "raptor" teeth, however the overwhelming majority of the time they are not actually Dromaeosaur teeth, but rather teeth from an undescribed Abelisauroid. Such is the case with these teeth, as I do not see any Dromaeosaur teeth in this lot.

 

Actual Dromaeosaur teeth are fairly distinctive, having very fine triangular serrations (as opposed to the larger, rounded serrations in these teeth), are strongly laterally compressed (they have a peanut-shaped cross section), and are generally strongly recurved. As of the time of this post, there has been no Dromaeosaur material formally described from the Kem Kem Beds, however there are anecdotal reports of genuine Dromaeosaur teeth coming from the locality, but they're rare.

 

As I mentioned earlier, these teeth are from theropods belonging to either the Abelisauridae (more likely) or the Noasauridae (less likely but still possible). Abelisaurid material from the Kem Kem Beds has only been formally described to the family level, and so you can't put a genus-level identification on these teeth. Some Kem Kem Abelisaur teeth appear similar in morphology to Rugops sp. (which is about the same age) suggesting that perhaps the "Kem Kem Abelisaur" is phylogenetically close to Rugops, but there are almost certainly multiple genera present.

 

EDIT: Factual error regarding the age of Rugops.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Opabinia Blues

[Mai-k]

7 minutes ago, Opabinia Blues said:

Small theropod teeth just like this from the Kem Kem Beds are frequently sold as "raptor" teeth, however the overwhelming majority of the time they are not actually Dromaeosaur teeth, but rather teeth from an undescribed Abelisauroid. Such is the case with these teeth, as I do not see any Dromaeosaur teeth in this lot.

 

Actual Dromaeosaur teeth are fairly distinctive, having very fine triangular serrations (as opposed to the larger, rounded serrations in these teeth), are strongly laterally compressed (they have a peanut-shaped cross section), and are generally strongly recurved. As of the time of this post, there has been no Dromaeosaur material formally described from the Kem Kem Beds, however there are anecdotal reports of genuine Dromaeosaur teeth coming from the locality, but they're rare.

 

As I mentioned earlier, these teeth are from theropods belonging to either the Abelisauridae (more likely) or the Noasauridae (less likely but still possible). Abelisaurid material from the Kem Kem Beds has only been formally described to the family level, and so you can't put a genus-level identification on these teeth. Some Kem Kem Abelisaur teeth appear similar in morphology to Rugops sp. (which is about 10 million years older) suggesting that perhaps the "Kem Kem Abelisaur" is phylogenetically close to Rugops, but there are almost certainly multiple genera present.

I see, thank you for your response. Glad I could learn something!