Exotic Dino Teeth

[Carcharodontosaurus]

I think most of us know about the usual dinosaur teeth that appear in the market. Raptor, T. rex, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, etc. But what about more exotic teeth? Acrocanthosaurus, Suchomimus and other such rarities sometimes pop up from time to time. Has anyone seen instances of more exotic dinosaur teeth on the market?

I've seen teeth from Carnotaurus and Masiakasaurus for sale on some websites, though I couldn't buy them.

[Paleoworld-101]

Ask Downunderfossilhunter!

He has a tonne of rare and almost never seen for sale dino teeth. I believe his rarest is an Alectrosaurus tooth?

[AJ Plai]

Ask Downunderfossilhunter!

He has a tonne of rare and almost never seen for sale dino teeth. I believe his rarest is an Alectrosaurus tooth?

Better yet, why not show those teeth in the collection! I am sure a lot of people here would love to see those rare teeth.

[Regg Cato]

Purchasing them commercially though I'd be careful about getting too excited over a specific and "exotic" identification, since that's a nice marketing gig to get a high price out of indeterminate material.

[Auspex]

Do avian theropods count?

Avisaurus archibaldi

[Troodon]

Everyone will have a different definition of what an exotic tooth is depending on the level of their collection. I have been collecting for over twenty years and my experience is mixed and would raise the caution flag with online purchases. First like Regg stated a number of dealers use exotic names as a marketing tool to sell teeth for profit. Unfortunately eBay is filled with this technique. Other dealers simply accept what is told to them when they purchased the item for resale and are happy to do so because of the upside. Dinosaur teeth can be very difficult to ID and I hate to say it but very few dealers can adequately do it. You have to become well versed in what you are buying and become an expert. You also have to get to know the dealer and find out where he obtained the tooth, who ID it and if you can return the item.

To answer the initial question my experience is that most real exotic teeth rarely make it to the public market. Most reputable dealers have a listing of their favorite clients and will contact them as soon as they obtain a specimen.

I've include a few dinosaur pictures from my collection

Far left : Dilophosaurus wetherilli from Kayenta Formation, Arizona 2 1/2 inches long

Next : Brachiosaurus altithorax from Morrison Formation, Utah 3 3/4 inches long

Next : Torvosaurus tanneri from Morrison Formation, Utah 3 1/4 inches long

Far right : Allosauridae on matrix from France, 1 1/2 inches long

[siteseer]

I've seen Deinonychus teeth, an oddball prosauropod tooth from the Bull Canyon Formation (New Mexico), and some theropod teeth from England (not sure if they are still called Megalosaurus). Teeth (theropod and sauropod) used to come out of Thailand but fossil exports are no longer allowed.

Some dinosaur-bearing formations are not very fossiliferous; some are lesser-known and/or more remote. Most people don't bother hunting oddball sites when they have a better chance of finding stuff in the Hell Creek, Morrison or Judith River.

I think most of us know about the usual dinosaur teeth that appear in the market. Raptor, T. rex, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, etc. But what about more exotic teeth? Acrocanthosaurus, Suchomimus and other such rarities sometimes pop up from time to time. Has anyone seen instances of more exotic dinosaur teeth on the market?

I've seen teeth from Carnotaurus and Masiakasaurus for sale on some websites, though I couldn't buy them.

[Down under fossil hunter]

Everyone will have a different definition of what an exotic tooth is depending on the level of their collection. I have been collecting for over twenty years and my experience is mixed and would raise the caution flag with online purchases. First like Regg stated a number of dealers use exotic names as a marketing tool to sell teeth for profit. Unfortunately eBay is filled with this technique. Other dealers simply accept what is told to them when they purchased the item for resale and are happy to do so because of the upside. Dinosaur teeth can be very difficult to ID and I hate to say it but very few dealers can adequately do it. You have to become well versed in what you are buying and become an expert. You also have to get to know the dealer and find out where he obtained the tooth, who ID it and if you can return the item.

To answer the initial question my experience is that most real exotic teeth rarely make it to the public market. Most reputable dealers have a listing of their favorite clients and will contact them as soon as they obtain a specimen.

I've include a few dinosaur pictures from my collection

Far left : Dilophosaurus wetherilli from Kayenta Formation, Arizona 2 1/2 inches long

Next : Brachiosaurus altithorax from Morrison Formation, Utah 3 3/4 inches long

Next : Torvosaurus tanneri from Morrison Formation, Utah 3 1/4 inches long

Far right : Allosauridae on matrix from France, 1 1/2 inches long

I agree with Troodon.

I only collect dinosaur teeth and theropods make up more than 95% of my collection.

It is only with experience (and a lot of it) that you can get a positive id on a tooth and even then it will only get you so far, at the end of the day a lot of the time you have to take a dealer or diggers word for it and just because a seller (ebay for example) has over a thousand sales and 100% positive feedback does not mean they know what they are selling or that they aren't deliberately falsifying its id.

Any day of the week you will be able to find Suchomimus teeth available on ebay and a number of online stores however almost all of them are mislabeled and are actually Spinosaurus.

There are also half a dozen popular theropods where teeth have never been found in association so to list teeth from them is purely guesswork at best.

Even VERY reputable dealers can get burned, last year I was offered a very nice Megalosaur tooth that the dealer had paid a lot of money for and it carried with it a very high price tag.

In this case I was lucky to have a paleontologist friend familiar with this material and was able to confirm it was not from Megalosaurus and was a Cerratosaurid tooth probably from Madagascar (still a nice rare tooth, but definitely not worth the multi thousand dollar price tag).

I have been collecting for the better part of ten years and would not consider myself anywhere near an expert further more I have been tricked a few times in the past due to lack of experience and being too eager to add that rare tooth to the collection.

If you are looking for that rare dino tooth use available networks to learn as much about it as possible, the internet has lots of info but sometimes you need to pick up a book and read as much as you can, ask the seller specific info (where it was found, what formation, location, when, by who etc etc).

In saying that there are some dealers who have bad reputations and should be avoided.

BTW that Dilophosaurus tooth is sooo cool it makes me sick!

[Down under fossil hunter]

Ask Downunderfossilhunter!

He has a tonne of rare and almost never seen for sale dino teeth. I believe his rarest is an Alectrosaurus tooth?

It is a pretty great tooth but I think I will go with Neovenator.

It is my favourite.

[-Andy-]

Do other large predators count as well?

Pliosaur teeth on the market are elusive as heck!

*brohoof*

[Regg Cato]

Even VERY reputable dealers can get burned, last year I was offered a very nice Megalosaur tooth that the dealer had paid a lot of money for and it carried with it a very high price tag.

In this case I was lucky to have a paleontologist friend familiar with this material and was able to confirm it was not from Megalosaurus and was a Cerratosaurid tooth probably from Madagascar (still a nice rare tooth, but definitely not worth the multi thousand dollar price tag).

On the contrary, I would think labeling it Megalosaurus would command a lower price; tons of indeterminate theropod material has been referred to "Megalosaurus" over the years from all parts of the globe, and I'm fairly certain almost none of it is referable to Megalosaurus sensu stricto. Most people wouldn't be thinking in those terms however. Many species of Megalosaurus have been named based on teeth, and while there is a high degree of certainty that they don't belong in Megalosaurus, nobody has bothered renaming them because of such insufficient material; hence technically they are still Megalosaurus spp. and would be rather more common than a Ceratosaur from Madagascar (which from my knowledge would be an exceptional find).

[Down under fossil hunter]

On the contrary, I would think labeling it Megalosaurus would command a lower price; tons of indeterminate theropod material has been referred to "Megalosaurus" over the years from all parts of the globe, and I'm fairly certain almost none of it is referable to Megalosaurus sensu stricto. Most people wouldn't be thinking in those terms however. Many species of Megalosaurus have been named based on teeth, and while there is a high degree of certainty that they don't belong in Megalosaurus, nobody has bothered renaming them because of such insufficient material; hence technically they are still Megalosaurus spp. and would be rather more common than a Ceratosaur from Madagascar (which from my knowledge would be an exceptional find).

Not when it is Megalosaurus bucklandii and from The Great Oolite.

This specific theropod ranks very highly in the eyes of the advanced collector.

On the other hand Madagascan theropod material is far more common and appears frequently online. You can take my word for it as it is well represented in my collection and most dealers I know have these teeth in their inventory.

A lot of Madagascan material is unidentifiable and gets thrown into the clade Ceratosauria.

It is true that Megalosauridae was used as a somewhat 'wastebasket' family with many unique theropods assigned to it however this does not mean that these teeth are at all common in a commercial sense.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Down under fossil hunter

[Troodon]

Dinosaur material from the UK is super rare especially if it's in good condition. Most bones are tumbled but every once and a while something nice pops up. Theropod teeth are even harder to find and I've only seen a handful ever offered for sale. If I run across any and can confirm locality it will be in my collection.

[Regg Cato]

Not when it is Megalosaurus bucklandii and from The Great Oolite.

This specific theropod ranks very highly in the eyes of the advanced collector.

On the other hand Madagascan theropod material is far more common and appears frequently online. You can take my word for it as it is well represented in my collection and most dealers I know have these teeth in their inventory.

A lot of Madagascan material is unidentifiable and gets thrown into the clade Ceratosauria.

It is true that Megalosauridae was used as a somewhat 'wastebasket' family with many unique theropods assigned to it however this does not mean that these teeth are at all common in a commercial sense.

Oh ok right, I misunderstood; yes I can see why that would command a high price tag. I find many dealers try to identify a fossil with a particular group far more specifically than is possible for the material. I think I recall seeing Deltadromeus teeth somewhere in the recent past, even though no teeth that can be definitely assigned to Deltadromeus have ever been found.

[Paleoworld-101]

Oh ok right, I misunderstood; yes I can see why that would command a high price tag. I find many dealers try to identify a fossil with a particular group far more specifically than is possible for the material. I think I recall seeing Deltadromeus teeth somewhere in the recent past, even though no teeth that can be definitely assigned to Deltadromeus have ever been found.

Yep, thats a common mistake many sellers make. I am sure they are aware of this mistake as well, but anything to help sell an item is fair game to some of them.

Usually these so-called 'Delta' teeth are under an inch long and most likely belong to a small Dromaeosaur rather than a 25 foot Ceratosaur.

[paulyb135]

I thought I’d bump this thread.

 

Here is my 2 inch baryonyx tooth. Not seen another as big as this. The striations are super. This tooth was collected from the Isle of Wight in 2008

[Birdman]

That is a nice Baryonyx tooth! It is big.

[Birdman]

On ‎17‎/‎04‎/‎2013 at 5:57 PM, Auspex said:

Do avian theropods count?

Avisaurus archibaldi

I wouldn't have seen this if Paulyb135 hadn't bumped this really old thread. I was wondering, do any of those nice avian theropod teeth have denticles/serrations?

[Auspex]

33 minutes ago, Birdman said:

do any of those nice avian theropod teeth have denticles/serrations?

Depends on where one draws the taxonomic line. Richardoestesia had been (and still is occasionally) considered a bird. Personally, I no longer think it was.

 

[paulyb135]

14 hours ago, Birdman said:

That is a nice Baryonyx tooth! It is big.

Thanks Jamie 

[DinoFossilsUK]

Awesome tooth!  Here's one of my favourites at the moment, I picked up this nice Theropod tooth from the Alcobaca Formation (Portugal) recently.

[paulyb135]

6 minutes ago, DinoFossilsUK said:

Awesome tooth!  Here's one of my favourites at the moment, I picked up this nice Theropod tooth from the Alcobaca Formation (Portugal) recently.

Cool tooth

portuguese fossils are hard to come by 

[paulyb135]

Re bumping this thread with perhaps my rarest tooth - a velociraptorine from the Isle of Wight. 

 

Hopefully others can share their exotic stuff too  

[Brad84]

My favorite tooth I have ever found is my Acrocanthrosaur tooth. I found it August of this year in Parker county, North Texas. It turned out to me the best tooth in my collection by far!

[Jaimin013]

1 hour ago, Brad84 said:

My favorite tooth I have ever found is my Acrocanthrosaur tooth. I found it August of this year in Parker county, North Texas. It turned out to me the best tooth in my collection by far!

Incredible find and amazing tooth! Wish I could find something like this. Once day I'll get an Acrocanthrosaur tooth!