Dakota Raptor Tooth

[HamptonsDoc]

I purchased a small tooth labeled as Dakota Raptor steini last week at the Denver show from a very well known guy from Hill City, South Dakota.  The tooth is from the Hell Creek Formation, Upper Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous, in Garfield County, Montana.  Is the ID correct?  Is the dull part at the base from the gum line or restoration?  Its about 1.5cm in length.

 

     

[JohnBrewer]

Can't help but the quality of your photography is very high which will make answering your questions so much easier

[HamptonsDoc]

4 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said:

Can't help but the quality of your photography is very high which will make answering your questions so much easier

 

Thanks!  Taken with the iPhone 7! haha

[JohnBrewer]

1 minute ago, HamptonsDoc said:

 

Thanks!  Taken with the iPhone 7! haha

 

You did well! I'll inform my wife I need to upgrade from 6 to 7  

[LordTrilobite]

I'm not familiar with the differences. But there are two raptors present at Hell Creek. Acheroraptor and Dakotaraptor. Acheroraptor is the smaller one.

 

@Troodon can probably help you.

[sseth]

It is a nice tooth.  The section on the bottom is just eroded slightly not restored.  As to species it is very difficult to tell.  I am not as familiar with teeth from Dakotaraptor.  I will be interested to see what others have to say.

[Susan from PA]

Hmmm....this is a really tough one.  I believe that I can rule out Acheroraptor, as I don't see any ridges running from the apex to the base of the tooth.  The base of tooth appears to have a much greater width facial-lingually than my Dakotaraptor tooth.  However, your tooth could come from a different part of the dentition.  The serrations on the distal carina look much larger than those on the mesial carina, which would indicate that this tooth is from a Dromeosaurid, which would indicate Dakotaraptor.  Is there anyway for you to count the serrations?  Here is the page on the dentition from the paper describing the species.  

 

[Troodon]

We are not going to be able to determine what your tooth  is with the information provided.  Dakotaraptor teeth need careful examination and can easily be confused with Nanotyrannus. 

 Are there serrations on the mesial edge, I'm having trouble seeing any.  Like Susan said you need to do a serration count on both edges.   Agreed Susan its not an Acheroraptor since its not compressed and the are no vertical ridges.  The D shape of your tooth, it not being compressed  looks more like a Nanotyrannus than a Dromaeosaurid but we not have the entire picture to make that call.

 

I've attached my post on Dakotaraptor teeth to see the difference in serrations between the three.  

 

 

The bottom of your tooth looks odd and theropod teeth do not have that bulky smooth rounded base.  The enamel wall thickness is a mm or so with sharp edges.  Looks like some of the enamel is worn off and the bottom has some wear and some resto. 

[Ridgehiker]

This tooth has some very poorly done restoration at the base.  Its compromised the potential for identification. 

 

The base  is the best way to ID a theropod tooth.  Also, even better if there is some interior section of the tooth visible on one side...this allows more certainty if a large raptor tooth or small tyrannosaur.

 

The shape, serrations, etc. are diagnostic tools. However, there is a lot of variation both biologically  and in preservation.  We can find a theropod jaw section and the associated teeth, if found separately, might be mistaken for separate genera.

[HamptonsDoc]

Thank you everyone for your very educated responses! The tooth only has serrations on the inside of the curve.  The outside is smooth and no signs of worn serrations can be seen under a loop.  I count 48 serrations, Susan, all of them seem to be the same size.  And again, the unit of measure on the ruler in the pictures is cm.  This tooth is tiny!

[Troodon]

Based on what you said my money is on a Nanotyrannus juvie.  I would however describe it has Theropod indet.