Fossil Dinosaur Teeth Questions

[YaKoStar]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post For a couple of days ago I was checking ebay for t-rex toys for my nephew who loves dinosaurs (like me) and came across these fossil teeth. I had no idea that dino fossils could be so cheap! I always thought you had to pay thousands of dollars for authentic pieces. Now I thought that instead of buying him a toy I could buy him a Spinosaurus or T-Rex tooth!

Now I have a couple of questions (yes I have tried googling):

Why are Spinosaurus teeth so cheap and why are there so many of them? I saw some on ebay for 30 dollars! Are they fake? I understand that T-Rex teeth are more expensive since it's the most popular dinosaur in the world but still.. How many hours would you say it would take for a paleontologist to find a spinosaur tooth in Marroco? If they go for 30 dollars that should mean that they're a fairly common find?

And my main question:

How do they identify the tooth? How can they be sure that it's a tooth of a specific dinosaur? When I look at T-rex and "african t-rex" teeth I see no difference but I read that the size of the serrations may differ depending on which dinosaur it is. Also, almost all dinosaur teeth on ebay from either spinosaurus, t-rex or the other "versions" of t-rex (nanot-rex, albertosaurus, allosaurus, african t-rex etc) . What about gigantosaurus, mapusaurus and all other big carnivores? Are they just rare?

Finally, do you have any good ebay sellers with authentic fossils? I'd rather pay 2x as much just to be sure that they are real. Doesn't have to be ebay, any internet site is ok as well

Thanks in advance

YaKoStar

[Kosmoceras]

Hi there,

The teeth can be cheaper than that - (see link) http://viewitem.eim.ebay.se/2-Cretaceous-Period-Sahara-Spinosaurus-Dinosaur-Fossil-Teeth-Reddish-Enamel-/310365220429/item These ones are real.

They are real, but often repaired, that is one reason why they are so cheap.

They are fairly common, espesially in Morocco. Each dinosaur had many teeth, and there were many dinosaurs, so you get lots of fossil teeth.

I hope this answers a few questions.

Best wishes,

Thomas.

[xonenine]

welcome to the forum YaKo - your enthusiasm is infectious, so many questions! Here you will be able to find and discuss many of the answers to your questions, so enjoy your time at the forum!There is a great document section, as well as a question and answer section.

there are even members you'll get to know who trade and sell fossils!

as far as good Ebay sellers, you will have to talk to individuals as you get to know them on a one on one basis, posting specific fossil dealers, (good or bad) isn't really done...

Edited January 21, 2012 by xonenine

[YaKoStar]

Thanks for your answers guys

What do you think about this. Does it seem legit or not? Would be nice to have a display case for my nephew as well I think he'd like it (he is only 5).

Also, if I want to buy a real T-Rex tooth (that still looks like a tooth), should I be prepared to pay 500+ dollars? I found this which ends soon, worth the money?

Edited January 21, 2012 by YaKoStar

[Kosmoceras]

Thanks for your answers guys

What do you think about this. Does it seem legit or not? Would be nice to have a display case for my nephew as well I think he'd like it (he is only 5).

Also, if I want to buy a real T-Rex tooth (that still looks like a tooth), should I be prepared to pay 500+ dollars? I found this which ends soon, worth the money?

The spino tooth looks good, it is real.

And the T-Rex tooth, it is also nice, but as he is only 5, I think he should get some fossils which are not too expensive. I know that children break things very easily.

[YaKoStar]

The spino tooth looks good, it is real.

And the T-Rex tooth, it is also nice, but as he is only 5, I think he should get some fossils which are not too expensive. I know that children break things very easily.

Yeah the T-Rex tooth would be for me, not my Nephew. I think I will wait and see what price the T-Rex ends on to get a good view. Don't have to stress anything, can get my tooth later.

Thank you for your help.

One more question: Is there anyway to check what year the tooth is from? I mean like, if I buy that spinosaurus tooth , how can I be sure that it is a spinosaurus tooth and not a bear tooth from let's say 20 thousand years ago?

[YaKoStar]

I found a good answer in a previous post:

Posted 06 June 2011 - 11:59 AM

teeth are one of the parts of animals that most often get preserved due to the strength and structural characteristics of the material. teeth are also relatively small and recognizable, and get collected a lot. it is very likely that huge numbers of small bone fragments of spinosaurus exist but are not recognizable nor valued and so they don't get collected and offered for sale. there's no market for small bone fragments that can't be identified, except to be ground up for fertilizer.

to me spinosaurus teeth don't look like sarcosuchus teeth. use a search engine like google images and look at a lot of each type and that will be the best way to train your eyes to tell the difference. their overall shape in many cases isn't even similar to me, but a main point to me about spinosaurus teeth is that they have a very distinctive ridge pattern on their surface.

[YaKoStar]

This 4,26" tooth looks cool, but I read somewhere that they put sand in the bottom of some teeth to make them look bigger. Does it look legit?

[Kosmoceras]

This 4,26" tooth looks cool, but I read somewhere that they put sand in the bottom of some teeth to make them look bigger. Does it look legit?

Yep, that one looks good.

[jpc]

Spinosaurs teeth are fairly common and T rex teeth are not... and when you buy a T rex tooth, you are paying way too much money. They are seriously overpriced because everyone thinks "Oooooohhh, its T rex...Ooooohhh"

That's my two cents.

[YaKoStar]

Spinosaurs teeth are fairly common and T rex teeth are not... and when you buy a T rex tooth, you are paying way too much money. They are seriously overpriced because everyone thinks "Oooooohhh, its T rex...Ooooohhh"

That's my two cents.

Yeah that's what I thought..

[Paleoworld-101]

There's already a few answers here but since it is my specialty i thought i'd answer too.

Spinosaurus teeth are very common finds at the site in Morocco (called the "Kem Kem Beds" or sometimes the "Tegana Formation") because the dinosaur was constantly shedding them in life. It happens very often. Most of the shed teeth are quite small, which is reflected in teeth under 2 inches being the most common finds. Spino teeth can grow up to 8 inches or so with a full root (which rarely fossilizes), yet over 90% of the teeth found are under the 2 inch mark. These small teeth are inexpensive because of not only how common they are, but also because they are usually quite worn, pitted and with poor enamel. High quality teeth are few and far between. Virtually every tooth also needs repair and this drives prices down too. Paleontologists aren't the ones finding these teeth either.

Identification is quite easy. If you know the various kinds of dino and reptile teeth found in the area, you can easily put a species on a newly discovered tooth. As a more general explanation, Spinosaurus teeth tend to have vertical ridges running up the crown, no serrations, and are somewhat conical in shape. This can lead to confusion with crocodile teeth that are also found in the formation, but a knowledgeable expert will be able to tell the difference. Carcharodontosaurus teeth (which are much rarer than Spino teeth and a fair bit more expensive) are quite wide, but also very flat. They have serrations on both sides and are shaped to slice dinosaur flesh like a knife. Size can also easily narrow down the list of subjects. For example, raptor teeth found in the Kem Kem are rarely over 1 inch. No confussion with a 5 inch Spinosaurus tooth!

By the way, "African T-rex" is just a name made up by sellers wanting to make a sale. Carcharodontosaurus is the proper name, and the 2 dinosaurs have no relation at all.

Dinosaur teeth on ebay are all from similar species because these are the ones that are readily found and put up for sale. Occasionally you see something for sale from a really exotic and not often seen species, but these specimens are usually one off's. The dinosaurs you generally see teeth from are- Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Triceratops, Hadrosaur, T-rex, Nanotyrannus, Raptor, Rebbachisaurus and the occasional Troodon or Coelophysis tooth. Specimens from Mapusaurus, Giganotosaurus and other rare carnivores are not for sale because, yes, they are rare. Only a few skeletons have been found.

I can reccomend the ebay seller dinosaur-fossils, who regularly lists REAL dino teeth and bones of the highest quality in no reserve auctions. Geoteacheredm is also a great seller, and puts some of the best Kem Kem material up for sale regularly. I made a fantastic purchase from him, two giant 4 inch Spino teeth and a fabulous 3 inch Carcharodontosaurus tooth at a incredible price! I put up a topic showing them, actually. "My Kem Kem Tooth Collection" in the member collections forum

If you still have dinosaur teeth questions, check out this ebay guide i myself wrote- http://reviews.ebay.com.au/Buying-Fossil-Dinosaur-Teeth-What-You-Should-Know?ugid=10000000052928415

Edited January 24, 2012 by Paleoworld-101

[Boneman007]

The last REAL T-rex tooth I saw was $75,000. And yes, I drooled!

[richardthefossil]

We often visit the Kem Kem beds, or Tegana formation, these teeth are a unique deposition in the Continental Red beds of Kem Kem, a region south of Taouz in the S.E.corner of Morocco, the red sands caused by iron content in the area at the time of being deposited in the Cretaceous period. To gain a good large size fossil dinosaurs tooth that is unbroken is quite a feat, thousands of small damaged teeth do come out of this formation, however decent teeth are becoming more scarce, it is inevitable there will be a end to production of these dinosaur teeth, due to finite resources and the political stability of the area, the red beds lie over the border region between Morocco and Algeria, a region in dispute between the two states.

A great plateaux, termed a Hamada rises up in the Sahara desert at the border region and in this Hamada are great quantities of fossil depositions. Currently it is not possible for much of these depositions to be worked upon due to the above.

In recent years large stout Spinosaurus teeth have been coming out of the regions fossil beds, new locations are currently being worked. The first large teeth of this kind started to appear in the last 5 to 3 years and more an more came onto the market, now this trend is reversing. Less good large teeth are being excavated.

Regarding the above comments about bones, we have many bones, large leg bones to large vertebrae from this region and these are certainly not destroyed by fossil diggers at this site. The only people doing this in the whole of Morocco is the Government cement industry productions near Casablanca, at the Phosphate deposits of Benguerir, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco.

I believe until one has been at the thick end of digging out these dinosaur fossil teeth in desert heat often working for weeks with few good examples appearing it is easy to ‘knock’ the costs of fossil dinosaur teeth. The main reason as I see it that the North American T’rex teeth for instance are expensive, is a polar opposite to say Carcharodontosaurus teeth from North Africa, they both take a lot of discovery and work and disappointment before finding a successful yield. Fossil hunters in the States value there time much more than the African counterpart. Thats the difference that counts in this equation. A good large North African tooth is no less marvellous than a fossil T’rex tooth. Remember carcharodontosaurus was bigger, heavier and we believe more ferocious but that last comment is always going to be a question of debate isn’t it?

Our advise is to get what you can when you can, eventually these fossils will not be available, coupled to that last remark, Morocco is under a UNESCO proposal to be a listed site of importance and this will stop all the excavations if the proposal is carried through.

[Ridgehiker]

T Rex teeth aren't uncommon as much as not available for sale. We can collect but not permitted to sell fossils from Alberta.

In the Scollard Formation I likely will find at least one in a day if that's what I dedicate my search for. I don't specifically search for them because there are other finds potentially more interesting and unique such as raptor digits, mammal teeth and other bits and pieces. These more interesting finds are from micro vertebrate sites.

The T. rex teeth in the Scollard can be anywhere but tend to be found in a rather blah light coloured bentonite layer devoid of much of anything else worth collecting...perhaps a few bone fragments. Why the T. rex teeth? This has always puzzled me.

The area was more upland away from crocs, turtles, champsosaurs, etc. So that may have influenced some variable but one would expect teeth from hadrosaurs, etc.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Ridgehiker