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Kem Kem Theropod Teeth: what you need to know


Troodon

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If you zoom in on the tooth it has serrtions right to the tip unlike hamadasuchus. But possibly could be another croc the seller is not too good with his identifications.

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I've also seen it.  Without a real closeup of that tooth hard to say what it is. Croc teeth from this fauna can be serrated

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I got better quality photo from the owner but will need to edit them (the size of files is large and also has websites name on them) so will post later tomorrow.

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5 hours ago, JohnBrewer said:

Looks like croc to me too. @Jesuslover340

 

Keeping in mind I can't determine between it being dinosaur or not (as I know nothing about them), I can vouch for it looking crocodilian. The lateral compression of the teeth and alveoli spacing do not preclude it being some type of ziphodont crocodilian, but I would agree-better and more photos would help. 

That being said, the main thing I want to note here is the pitting/rough texture on the jaw. This generally indicates an animal that loved water or ate things in water a lot (I know Spinosaurus has it). Pitting indicates extrasensory perception in water environments to help in sensing and catching prey.  It's hard to tell the extent of the pitting on the lower half of the jaw, but it does seem pitted/rough textured. Here's an example:

1478317355703_0401002505_b9e0d3a7.thumb.jpg.d51bec246e3928a8935a6cb8e72c7594.jpg

 

Sometimes water wear can form channels between the pits as well, making the overall texture look more like rough star corral.

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"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."
-Romans 14:19

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Here are some closer images of that jaw with tooth from the Kem Kem.  Seller is also concerned that it may be seen as a crock tooth and is in the process of taking better photos.

 

5a048eb52e554_s-l1600(2).jpg.eac5fdbf66ce7be48c71e5ac97ecf89f.jpg5a048ec29e79f_s-l1600(1).jpg.7211a0aee6277f0ae1cfd14d691d8854.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

I think I posted the whole article,sometime ago

 

2teetymplwillist.jpg


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

teetymplwillist.jpg

some of you may like this:

 

2teetymplwillist.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/7/2015 at 2:02 PM, Troodon said:

Theropod indet.  

There are also intermediate size teeth (1 1/2") that are being sold as Deltadromeus or another theropod. I believe these could be Deltadromeus teeth but until we see scientific evidence this morphology of tooth should be identified as Theropod indet.  No skull was found with the holotype or in any other discoveries so we do not know what look like.

 

post-10935-0-32795200-1444237946_thumb.jpg

Carcharodontosaurid serrations
post-10935-0-46963400-1444238029_thumb.jpg

 

Theropod indet.

post-10935-0-05703400-1444238034_thumb.jpg

 

I have found some more comparisons - here is Murusraptor tooth (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0157973) and Australovenator teeth (https://peerj.com/articles/1512.pdf (Deltadromeus was considered Megaraptoran, right?). I understand that nothing is for certain in Kem Kem, but serrations on the teeth below resemble Carcharodontosaurus more than your tooth in question.  Considering Delta a ceratosaur, teeth are still different because ceratosaur teeth only have serrations on the apical part of the mesial side and denticles are chisel-shaped (compared with Genyodectes http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0894%3APAAOGS]2.0.CO%3B2).

Maybe it is something else? 

 

image.png.ecc2d4911464f1b947baf380709fd89b.png

 

journal.pone.0157973.g016

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The Tooth Fairy

 

 

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8 hours ago, Anomotodon said:

(Deltadromeus was considered Megaraptoran, right?)

As far as I know this is indeed the latest placement of Deltadromeus.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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The current sister taxon for comparisons Deltadromeus is Gualicho but again there is no skull.  Both of these are Neovenatoridae. The next best one where we have teeth is Australovenator like you indicated.  

Screenshot_20180129-050412.thumb.jpg.6982c1b2e88b4df28bbf74c72a8d3e31.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Here are two teeth I just picked up. Here is the first one, 1/2" long. Distal serration are 15 per 5 mm. The mesial serration are worn and appear to be very small. Too worn and too small to count but do appear to be smaller than distal serrations. The mesial carinae also twists. 

 

r1a.thumb.jpg.60e8f86487cd73898e6fa5a48c68aee7.jpg

r1d.jpg

r1c.jpg

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Here is tooth number two. Slightly over 1/2" long. The distal serrations are 13-14 per 5mm. The mesial serrations are 20 per 5 mm. The distal serration are tall and slightly hooked towards the crown. The mesial serrations are very short when compared to the distal. The mesial carinae does not twist near the root. 

r2a.jpg

r2b.jpg

r2c.jpg

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3 hours ago, zekky said:

Here is tooth number two. Slightly over 1/2" long. The distal serrations are 13-14 per 5mm. The mesial serrations are 20 per 5 mm. The distal serration are tall and slightly hooked towards the crown. The mesial serrations are very short when compared to the distal. The mesial carinae does not twist near the root. 

 

Yep two fine examples of teeth that have characteristics of Dromaeosaurid teeth.  Hopefully we can see a publication that supports these morphologies. 

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You are fast Zekky! I was awaiting photos from the seller when he sheepishly told me tooth 1 was taken.

 

Nice acquisitions!

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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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58 minutes ago, -Andy- said:

You are fast Zekky! I was awaiting photos from the seller when he sheepishly told me tooth 1 was taken.

 

Nice acquisitions!

Thanks! I jumped on them fast. The tooth with the big serrations is truly spectacular. The serrations on that tooth are maybe the best of my entire collection. What is awesome is that each tooth is very different from each other. I can't see them being the same species. One looks more troodontid, one more dromaeosaurid. 

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  • 4 months later...

A new tooth I got with maybe-Dromaeosaurid features.

 

It measures 14mm long, and is very slim. Its mesial carinae has a twist. Unfortunately... the distal and mesial serrations are too similar, at 17/5mm vs 18/5mm. I do have to note that the mesial denticles are much shorter than the distal denticles.

 

Not sure what to make of this.

 

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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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5 hours ago, -Andy- said:

A new tooth I got with maybe-Dromaeosaurid features.

It measures 14mm long, and is very slim. Its mesial carinae has a twist. Unfortunately... the distal and mesial serrations are too similar, at 17/5mm vs 18/5mm. I do have to note that the mesial denticles are much shorter than the distal denticles.

 

Not sure what to make of this.

 

The serration density is one of the keys in identifying a Dromaeosaurid like tooth, so like you say too close and I agree, why hard to call it that..  What do mean the denticles are shorter, is it in height?  If so pretty typical of denticles in mesial carinae.  Closest to what I call Morph 6 just a smaller version.  We might just be seeing variability in different stages of growth of these dinos or due to tooth position.   Hopfully that member that was here for a short while indicated  a study of these teeth was being done and we will see a paper.  Nice tooth thanks for posting and seeing these unique characteristics.

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5 hours ago, Troodon said:

 

The serration density is one of the keys in identifying a Dromaeosaurid like tooth, so like you say too close and I agree, why hard to call it that..  What do mean the denticles are shorter, is it in height?  If so pretty typical of denticles in mesial carinae.  Closest to what I call Morph 6 just a smaller version.  We might just be seeing variability in different stages of growth of these dinos or due to tooth position.   Hopfully that member that was here for a short while indicated  a study of these teeth was being done and we will see a paper.  Nice tooth thanks for posting and seeing these unique characteristics.


Thanks Frank. After seeing your teeth, I agree. Morph 6 is a close match.

 

Posting your other thread here in case others do not understand what we are talking about:

 

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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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To Moroccan diggers

An understatement but we need skulls with teeth to answer these questions... please go find some...will take jaws with teeth as an alternative.  

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After showing Henry, he said he would not rule out dromaeosaur, but would not confirm it is one either. He feels Morph 4 is a good match too, even after taking the serration difference into account.

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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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5 hours ago, Troodon said:

To Moroccan diggers

An understatement but we need skulls with teeth to answer these questions... please go find some...will take jaws with teeth as an alternative.  

And most importantly without any compositing shenanigans going on.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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1 hour ago, -Andy- said:

After showing Henry, he said he would not rule out dromaeosaur, but would not confirm it is one either. He feels Morph 4 is a good match too, even after taking the serration difference into account.

Yes 4 would work the biggest difference being that the twist not as pronounce.  Question is for all these teeth is how different should the serration density be to qualify it as a Dromaeosaurid?  I'm very eager to find out what researchers say when they finally publish something on small teeth and if Dromaeosaurid's are included or are they something else.

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