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Another Cretaceous Mystery


Mtskinner

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These two items were found together in the same area of a small creek (south Alabama) and were associated with Cretaceous shark teeth. The jaw bone is approximately 1-3/4" long and the teeth are 1/4" wide. The claw core is right at 3" long and 2" wide. Any thoughts comments would be greatly appreciated!

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You find a lot of nice stuff. The jaw looks similar to the lower jaw of Hadrodus. The Oceans of Kansas website has a picture of a similar specimen.

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:o !

I don't know what else that claw could be from but a theropod dinosaur; someone please weigh in if you recognize it!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Thanks for all the comments, but sadly I can't claim these two beauties. A good friend found them last Saturday and we both had no clue what they were. I knew that you all would know though so thanks again! I'm currently trying gain permission to the creek as he said it was loaded with shell and teeth.

The claw is the second one I've seen from this area and I'm hoping there may be a few teeth now that we know what they are. I'm assuming any associated teeth will be serrated, is that correct?

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Wow! Amazing pieces!

Now get out there and find a few of your own!

~Charlie~

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK
->Get your Mosasaur print
->How to spot a fake Trilobite
->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG

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That claw could be from a large tyrannosaurid described from southern Alabama: Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis

 

IMG1.jpg

 

Carr, T.D., Williamson, T.E., & Schwimmer, D.R. (2005)

A new genus and species of tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian) Demopolis Formation of Alabama.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(1):119-143

 

 

 

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The finder of the claw came over around lunch and brought a few other unknowns. All from the same two creeks that are maybe 2-3 miles apart. The first is a rather large vert for being found around here, it's approximately 3" long and 2.5" at the widest point. And the other is a large hollow bone, it's 4" long and 2" wide.

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Theropod City, IMHO!

This is a singularly interesting site!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Any reason why we can't find a single tooth? Not that I'm complaining at all...but it seems like all we find are mosasaur, crock and x-fish.

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Stand corrected on that jaw thank you Rich. The claw comes from the Blufftown Formation if it from the same creek that you found the hadrosaur tooth that was posted a few months ago. From the paper I read the only reported material found in that locality was Albertosaurid type material. The specimen on post 13/14 looks like the end of a center metatarsal (digit III) of a theropod. The vert looks like its theropod.

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The last bone is the distal end of a large theropod metatarsal; could be the same species as the claw, even if they aren't the same individual animal. This is adding up to a potentially scientifically significant site.

Lack of theropod teeth is odd. Keep looking, they should be there. Is the geologic formation marine or freshwater? If there are mosasaurs, sounds marine, which means a terrestrial theropod got there by bloat-and-float. Heads fall off quickly, so maybe only the postcrania floated out to your area.

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Any reason why we can't find a single tooth? Not that I'm complaining at all...but it seems like all we find are mosasaur, crock and x-fish.

Bad collecting techniques?. :D

Just keep looking you will run into teeth. Harder to see and preserve than bone.

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Here's some interesting info on the classification of the Alabama tyrannosaurid:
 
Although an assessment of dinosaurian diversity in eastern North America is still unfeasible, the presence of the new dinosaur in Alabama presents a more complete view of tyrannosauroid evolution and historical biogeography than was possible previously.
 
We provisionally recognize a node-based Tyrannosauridae consisting of a dichotomy composed of the lineages Albertosaurus and the Daspletosaurus + Tyrannosaurus clade. We provisionally recognize a stem-based Tyrannosauroidea because basal ingroup relationships of the clade are poorly resolved. These concepts differ from those of Sereno (1998) and Holtz (2001) because we consider Aublysodon, Stygivenator, and Nanotyrannus to be invalid taxa (Carr, 1999; Carr and Williamson, 2000; Carr and Williamson, submitted). Thus, as used herein, the term "tyrannosaurid" refers to members of Tyrannosauridae; "tyrannosauroid" refers to members of the more inclusive clade including Tyrannosauridae, the new genus, and Dryptosaurus (see Phylogenetic Position).
 
 
Carr, T.D., Williamson, T.E., & Schwimmer, D.R. (2005)
A new genus and species of tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian) Demopolis Formation of Alabama.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(1):119-143
 
 
 

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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Your friend is very lucky. Great specimens, I wonder if they all come from the same individual.

The vert and bone frag were found in a different creek about 3 miles south of the claw core.

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The last bone is the distal end of a large theropod metatarsal; could be the same species as the claw, even if they aren't the same individual animal. This is adding up to a potentially scientifically significant site.

Lack of theropod teeth is odd. Keep looking, they should be there. Is the geologic formation marine or freshwater? If there are mosasaurs, sounds marine, which means a terrestrial theropod got there by bloat-and-float. Heads fall off quickly, so maybe only the postcrania floated out to your area.

It's marine and the most common teeth we find are goblins by far. There are five creeks that span a few miles between each of them that we find this stuff in. All items we find are already eroded from an unknown source and we find them by walking the marl bars. Don't get me wrong...most stuff we find is not this nice or rare.

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