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My Jurassic Park: Moroccan Theropod Claws


Troodon

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The Kem Kem Beds are full of poorly understood Dinosaurs but the isolated material that wind up in collections are beautiful. The Beds consist of three formations: Ifezouane, Aoufous and Akrabou. I believe the first one is your primary Dinosaur producing layer in the Cenomanian age.

The teeth that we see bombarding us at shows and online give us clues to the spectacular dinosaurs that roamed that region. Claws give us another perspective and by associating them to other regions we obtain more hints of what they looked like.

A Dinosaur that no one needs introduction is Spinosaurus. I happen to have a beautiful hand and two foot claws. A small hand claw also appears to be that of an infant Spinosaurs or another related species.

Spino1a.jpgSpino1.jpgSpino2.jpg

SpinoFoot1.jpgSpinoFoot1a.jpg

SpinoFoot1b.jpg

 

Large theropod claw 5 " currently indeterminate

Screenshot_20221119_155839_Drive.thumb.jpg.0eeb8e26bf7057bafaa36422eede6ef6.jpg

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Another group of Dinosaurs are Abelisaurids. These type of claws have been described at a family level and some day we may understand the species.

post-10935-0-87742400-1441312470_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-28233600-1441312474_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-00493100-1441312478_thumb.jpg

This claw resembles Dromaeosauid claws from other localities

.post-10935-0-13454600-1441312585_thumb.jpg

The following are from unknown theropods

post-10935-0-68496100-1441312681_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-94732300-1441312677_thumb.jpg

post-10935-0-76365600-1441312684_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-59137200-1441312687_thumb.jpg

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Additonal undescribed Theropod Claws

post-10935-0-71945700-1441312857_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-15212000-1441312861_thumb.jpg

These look like Troodontid claws yet we find no teeth

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These are fantastic claws what type of Dinosaur used them

 

 

 

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These are sold as Deltadromeus. Maybe some day we will find out what they really are. 

post-10935-0-31948900-1441313130_thumb.jpg

Finally this claw has a resemblance to Tyrannosaur foot claws out of the Hell Creek, specifically Nanotyrannus. Its anyone guess what it is even if its dinosaurian. Might be Crock.

post-10935-0-88407500-1441313139_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-63526600-1441313142_thumb.jpg

If you missed my other post here are

Anzu wyliei and Allosaurus

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57267-my-jurassic-park/

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57284-my-jurassic-park-allosaurus/

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Remarkable variety!

A question from the unlearned: did Theropods have dew claws, and are they identifiable as such?

"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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Remarkable variety!

A question from the unlearned: did Theropods have dew claws, and are they identifiable as such?

Yes on most but some in families like Ornithomimidae they do not. If you know claws of a specific species you can recognize a Digit I (Dew) Claw. The base is not as formed because its not needed for propulsion but its not easy.
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Very impressive, nice job at collecting all the varieties of theropods from that collection. They're in great condition also! Has any type of work been done on them?

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Very impressive, nice job at collecting all the varieties of theropods from that collection. They're in great condition also! Has any type of work been done on them?

Very very little on a couple not like what you see today and I just won't buy them. A number of these claws were acquired years ago when they were finding better quality material in the Kem Kem. Those days are gone and the localities are more remote with poorer preservation

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 The first one is why I looked at the Giganotosaurus skeleton. It appears to be a Carcharodontosaurus foot claw but if someone has a better call I'm all ears. Again just not a lot of theropod info out there.

post-10935-0-84494600-1441800409_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-56410200-1441800413_thumb.jpg

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Here is an Ornithomimid looking foot claw who knows anything about the owner

post-10935-0-25543200-1441800438_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-71368300-1441800441_thumb.jpg

 

 

A couple of unknown theropod claws:

post-10935-0-22799000-1441800424_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-94811400-1441800426_thumb.jpg

 

 

post-10935-0-25954800-1441800431_thumb.jpgpost-10935-0-32712500-1441800435_thumb.jpg

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This might be a silly question but how prevalent is restoration as it pertains to dinosaur claws? I know it's something of an issue with large Megs although honesty about restorative work on these teeth seem to be , thank goodness, the norm.

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Not a silly question. I collect Megs so I understand what's going on. Most Meg dealers will be upfront about repair work done on teeth and there is some nice work out there. Dinosaur claws are much more fragile so a significantly larger percentage have some damage to them when they are collected. Restoration/repair although not ideal is a common practice on claws and much more accepted by some collectors. The problem is that it's hard for an untrained eye to see the restoration and even harder if your buying from a photo. Also the history of the repair/resto gets lost quickly has it changes hands. Most dealers will tell you what they know. Depending on his skill level and quality of repair he may or may not see all the work done to the claw. The best way to buy one is in person so that you can examine it. If that not possible at least have the ability to return it if it does not meet your expectation. .

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  • 6 months later...

Have not posted to this Jurassic Park series for quite a while so let's catch up.

 

Theropod indet.:

 

These obscure claws are very hard to identify.

 

 The first one I've called a hand claw because it's very compressed and not recurved but it could equally belong to the foot 

 

58c996eea41a9_TheroIndetclaw-D85K.thumb.jpg.4af463379e64566fa06f65d9e5e667e1.jpg58c9972eb16ef_TheroIndetclawA-D85K.thumb.jpg.1054b0836d4f9cab52f759e428393b5c.jpg

 

This next claw I'm saying it's theropod but would not shock me if it belongs to a reptile.  It's definitely a foot claw.

 

58c997094dcfd_TheroIndetclaw-D85L.thumb.jpg.7361bf6b19408374f305b2035b7130a3.jpg58c997491b36f_TheroIndetclawA-D85L.thumb.jpg.201e0a65ec095a6b44038937fb8c6760.jpg

 

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7 inches?!

 

Woe betide the fish that falls into the Spinosaurus's radar.

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Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I tried sending a message but you have personal ones turned off, anyway here goes. 

 

Hi I seen you post a while back in your topic of kem kem hand claws an how you where comparing carcharodontasaurus to them as a base of reference. The problem I seem to be having is the lack of giganotosaurus skeleton images that are of enough quality I can see in detail the bones I also looked for research papers done but came up with very little material on the holotype any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks Matt

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@Haravex

Here are a couple of images that I've gotten since I wrote this to help get close to an idea.  Not perfect but without scientific documentation from the Kem Kem best we can do.

Mapusaurus is a Giganotosaurini (Carcharontosauridae) from Argentina 

20160417_185928.thumb.jpg.e35112965b321c1165e72a9aec9fe14c.jpg

 

Foot claw from another Argentinian Carch...Tyrannotitan.

Screenshot_20170910-140759.thumb.jpg.79fbca78b53a8a8356dccfd24462e882.jpg

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3 minutes ago, Haravex said:

what is the doi to the article and what book is the first image from?

Coria, R. A.; Currie, P. J. (2006). "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Geodiversitas. 28 (1): 71–118. ISSN 1280-9659.

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  • 4 months later...

A few new claws from the Tucson show :D  The last two claws are very interesting they resemble those in North America.   Asked hxmendosa for his opinion and I agreed with him on what they looked like.  Another indication there are other theropods in this assemblage and Dromaeosaurid's are present.  

 

 

5a738630a3c37_TheroClaw2.jpg.17db0725f089cbc43cb7e63512f7b63a.jpg

 

 

TheroClaw3.thumb.jpg.134db0ba30a5d864a925fff56c7a9f68.jpg

 

TheroClaw4.jpg.90c5863a8b569ecf02d8f1a79b3df09e.jpg

 

TheroClaw5.thumb.jpg.38d5790cb0b1a9eeb7d830d1790aa359.jpg

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On 3/15/2017 at 1:42 PM, Troodon said:

Have not posted to this Jurassic Park series for quite a while so let's catch up.

 

Theropod indet.:

 

These obscure claws are very hard to identify.

 

 The first one I've called a hand claw because it's very compressed and not recurved but it could equally belong to the foot 

 

58c996eea41a9_TheroIndetclaw-D85K.thumb.jpg.4af463379e64566fa06f65d9e5e667e1.jpg58c9972eb16ef_TheroIndetclawA-D85K.thumb.jpg.1054b0836d4f9cab52f759e428393b5c.jpg

 

This next claw I'm saying it's theropod but would not shock me if it belongs to a reptile.  It's definitely a foot claw.

 

58c997094dcfd_TheroIndetclaw-D85L.thumb.jpg.7361bf6b19408374f305b2035b7130a3.jpg58c997491b36f_TheroIndetclawA-D85L.thumb.jpg.201e0a65ec095a6b44038937fb8c6760.jpg

 

 

@Troodon is there a groove on the ventral surface of this foot claw?

 

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On 2/1/2018 at 2:32 PM, Troodon said:

A few new claws from the Tucson show :D  The last two claws are very interesting they resemble those in North America.   Asked hxmendosa for his opinion and I agreed with him on what they looked like.  Another indication there are other theropods in this assemblage and Dromaeosaurid's are present.  

 

 

5a738630a3c37_TheroClaw2.jpg.17db0725f089cbc43cb7e63512f7b63a.jpg

 

 

TheroClaw3.thumb.jpg.134db0ba30a5d864a925fff56c7a9f68.jpg

 

TheroClaw4.jpg.90c5863a8b569ecf02d8f1a79b3df09e.jpg

 

TheroClaw5.thumb.jpg.38d5790cb0b1a9eeb7d830d1790aa359.jpg

Great claws!!!

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