Suchomimus tooth

[BirdsAreDinosaurs]

Hi! This compressed, incomplete tooth is 2,9 cm long and has fluting and tiny serrations of the right dimensions for a Suchomimus tooth. Yet it does look quite different than some other Suchomimus teeth I have seen online, so I would love to hear your opinions. The location given is Gadoufaoua, Tenere Desert, Niger, Elrhaz Fm. Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by BirdsAreDinosaurs

[Runner64]

This does not look like a typical tooth found in the Elrhaz Formation in Niger.  The preservation resembles the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco and I question the location information you were given.

[Kikokuryu]

Red and orange colored teeth do come from Niger, but they are not as common. The significance of the color, I don't know. It could be a specific area where it was collected, a specific layer, etc.

[BirdsAreDinosaurs]

Thank you both! I see where you are coming from @Runner64. But I have also seen teeth from the same formation in scientific literature that were also reddish brown. And I have seen quite some Kem Kem teeth but never one like this. But that does not mean it could not be one.

 

Apart from the colour, do you guys reckon it has the right characteristics of a Suchomimus tooth?

[Kikokuryu]

7 minutes ago, BirdsAreDinosaurs said:

Thank you both! I see where you are coming from @Runner64. But I have also seen teeth from the same formation in scientific literature that were also reddish brown. And I have seen quite some Kem Kem teeth but never one like this. But that does not mean it could not be one.

 

Apart from the colour, do you guys reckon it has the right characteristics of a Suchomimus tooth?

Out of curiosity, is the tooth as red as it looks in the photo? Sometimes colors can look a bit more pronounced in photos than in real life depending on what filters and lighting are used.

 

It does look consistent with what you'd want in a baryonychine. Cristatusaurus is a bit of an X factor, but I think Suchomimus is fine. Given the issue we have with English baryonychines, the teeth are probably not very diagnostic to a particular species.

 

Kem Kem spinosaurid teeth with serration-like characteristics exist, but not like this and by extension, not from the Echkar Formation. And as far as I'm aware of, this morphology doesn't exist in the Middle Jurassic. Some misleading croc teeth, but no serrations.

[BirdsAreDinosaurs]

53 minutes ago, Kikokuryu said:

Out of curiosity, is the tooth as red as it looks in the photo? Sometimes colors can look a bit more pronounced in photos than in real life depending on what filters and lighting are used.

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, pictures can be a bit misleading sometimes. In real life the tooth is quite a bit darker than on the pictures. I would call it dark brown with a slight reddish hue.