mosasaur root? New Jersey

[njcreekhunter]

Hey everyone. I took a trip to ramanessin brook and found this. When I first picked it up I thought it was just an unidentifiable piece of bone. But then I noticed the indentation when I looked at the other side. I believe it is a mosasaur root that is split in half. It also has a tiny piece of black enamel where I believe the crown of the mosasaur tooth would've been. I'd love to know what you all think about this.

[Auspex]

That would have had to be a big mosasaur tooth; too big, me thinks.

[njcreekhunter]

Yeah it's definitely huge. There are some big mosasaurs from New Jersey though like Mosasaurus maximus and Prognathodon. So I don't think we can rule out mosasaur just because of the size. Here are some better pics I took outside. They show the piece of enamel better.

[Plax]

looks like bone

[Troodon]

Have to agree looks more like bone. Not an expert on mosasaur teeth but the internal structure of their root seems to be solid and not have the voids of your specimen. Cannot explain the dark enamel looking specks at one end.

[jpevahouse]

That would have to be a record BIG mosasaur. Size is often a good starting point in identifying a fossil. I would guess bone?

[Carl]

Definitely looks like a mosasaur tooth root to me. Nice find!

[believerjoe]

I have around 10 mosasaur tooth root pieces and they vary greatly in appearance. This looks correct to me, so I do not see why not.

[believerjoe]

Here is one I found this weekend. While people are hesitant of the size since most are normally on the smaller size, the upper root on a tylosaur can be this big. I have held one form a 50 footer and it is fairly impressive. They do present themselves as round voids with enamel bits on the upper portion. The bone which runs perpendicular to the root is totally fused in this case making at all appear as one piece.

If it were to be something else, I could not say as I only have experience with cretaceous things - so mosasaurs, xiphactinus, enchodus, etc. It isn't a fish, so we are past that. Reptile seems most obvious.

Edited January 20, 2016 by believerjoe

[frankh8147]

Looks good to me! Here is my Mosasaur Maximus root socket (confirmed by Trenton State Museum). Nice!!!

[frankh8147]

I would also add that, based on the size, yours MAY be Conodon rather than Maximus; the root you have runs deep, but the tooth indentation looks a little small (i'm not sure, but the tooth indentation looks very similar to other Conodon root specimens I have found there). Keep in mind that Mosasaurus Conodon grew to be about 30 feet long, so it's still a beast!