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Scunthorpe Pliosaur


Goldkaiser

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Hi guys my parents had recently Brought me a present for getting a place to study my masters in Palaeobiology next year. The Specimen came from a chap who claims it's from an old collection and was collected from the Jurassic of Scunthorpe. My main Question is does it look Pliosaurian in nature to anyone? I've not seen that many and in my opinion it looks like it could just as equally be a Jurassic Crocodile. The specimen appears to be surrounded by a matrix of fishy bits and bobs and the back actually has some nice Ammonites preservered. Tooth is approx 1CM across and a third of a CM thick at base. It has strong striations and good enamel.

hope somebody can help

GKIMG_4862.JPGIMG_4863.JPG

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Hi Goldkaiser.

Looking at the specimen I would suspect the main diagnostic feature is the ridge running down the length of the tooth.

I have not seen a similar ridge on any pliosaur teeth from the area I collect and not being familiar with crocodile teeth so will wait for others to comment.

 

Mike

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Hi Mike,

              Thanks for your input. I have looked at some examples where possible of Pliosaur teeth in the UK and I have noticed a lack of such a ridge on most teeth however some examples do appear to have a ridge. Finding documents on Pliosaurs is actually proving difficult :/

many thanks for your input again,

Goldkaiser

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Hello @Goldkaiser,

 

That's a very nice specimen you have there! I also really like ammonites and shells on the back of the fossil;)

 

Unfortunately I am not really able to see whether it is crocodilian or pliosaurian. Do you perhaps know what the exact age of the Scunthorpe fossils are? Jurassic is rather vague...

Also, some more detailed close-ups will surely be useful; the close-up is rather blurry:blink:

 

Some more experienced members might have a better idea than me.

 

Best regards,

 

Max

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Hi Max, Unfortunately as it was a present it's provinance is not 100% looking at the geology of Scunthorpe the best I can say is some where in the lower to middle Jurassic but that is a large span of time. Will try to get some more clearer pictures up at some point as well

many thanks GK.

 

EDIT: After asking my parents to see the original listing I can say it is supposedly from the upper lias of Scunthorpe

 

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The rock looks like 'fish scale' bed from the upper Jurassic, Winterton Quarry, Scunthorpe.

This quarry is long gone landfill but there used to be a band of what looked like fish scales with many bits of broken ammonite and the occasional whole ammonite  that is a nightmare to prep. That band was in the upper lias, ammonites included Phylloceras and eleganticeras elegans,

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1 minute ago, StormDancer said:

The rock looks like 'fish scale' bed from the upper Jurassic, Winterton Quarry, Scunthorpe.

This quarry is long gone landfill but there used to be a band of what looked like fish scales with many bits of broken ammonite and the occasional whole ammonite  that is a nightmare to prep. That band was in the upper lias, ammonites included Phylloceras and eleganticeras elegans,

 Thanks stormdancer :D just beat me to it haha just found the original listing from my mums ebay account 

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Nice tooth !

I dont think that its a pliosaur tooth or a crocodile tooth ....  

Seems to be Ichthyosaur, although i am not familar with the area.

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Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

Belo.gif

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Hi guys so thanks for the replys I have tried to get some more decent photographs. I didn't think about a possible icthyosaur however it's has quite a curvature to it and as far as I'm aware general icthyosaur teeth morphology have a bullet shaped motif plus the striations are not as pronounced as I've seen on some the specimens I have collected.

 

Edit: I have more pictures that aren't blurred but can't upload due to file size :/

i have tried to get some decent close ups but it does blur a bit with my camera IMG_4879.JPGIMG_4882.JPG

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20 hours ago, belemniten said:

Nice tooth !

I dont think that its a pliosaur tooth or a crocodile tooth ....  

Seems to be Ichthyosaur, although i am not familar with the area.

Thats a really good suggestion too! Anyways, I don't think I can help much more...

But once again, amazing fossil! You have some great parents;)

 

Best regards,

 

Max

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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                 Plesi-Animation-90.gif 

I hope someone can identify your tooth. I think your new close-up photos should help. I'd be very happy to have a specimen like that, whatever it turns out to be. Good luck.

 

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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9 hours ago, Goldkaiser said:

Hi guys so thanks for the replys I have tried to get some more decent photographs. I didn't think about a possible icthyosaur however it's has quite a curvature to it and as far as I'm aware general icthyosaur teeth morphology have a bullet shaped motif plus the striations are not as pronounced as I've seen on some the specimens I have collected.

I can understand your thoughts that it couldnt be a Ichthyosaurus tooth and maybe its completely nonsense what i wright here but ...

For me the tooth is to thick to be a crocodile tooth although the striations looks a bid like for example this Steneosaurus tooth from Holzmaden:

 

Nr.10 D1.JPG

 

But this tooth is not 1 cm thick and the form is completely different ....

Maybe it could be a Dakosaurus tooth ? (perhaps a too wild guess :) )

Pliosaur can fit but i have a bad feeling with this ... (also too thick)

 

The striation looks like this (unidentified tooth) also from Holzmaden: http://www.steinkern.de/steinkern-de-galerie/holzmaden/zahn-bestimmungshilfe-erwuenscht.html

 

I cant help anymore ... hope an expert can say more !

 

 

 

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Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

Belo.gif

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 28/11/2016 at 8:10 PM, belemniten said:

I can understand your thoughts that it couldnt be a Ichthyosaurus tooth and maybe its completely nonsense what i wright here but ...

For me the tooth is to thick to be a crocodile tooth although the striations looks a bid like for example this Steneosaurus tooth from Holzmaden:

 

Nr.10 D1.JPG

 

But this tooth is not 1 cm thick and the form is completely different ....

Maybe it could be a Dakosaurus tooth ? (perhaps a too wild guess :) )

Pliosaur can fit but i have a bad feeling with this ... (also too thick)

 

The striation looks like this (unidentified tooth) also from Holzmaden: http://www.steinkern.de/steinkern-de-galerie/holzmaden/zahn-bestimmungshilfe-erwuenscht.html

 

I cant help anymore ... hope an expert can say more !

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply and your helpful advice haven't been able to get a good connection in a while to reply. That tooth does indeed bare resemblance to my tooth. Hopefully one day I can find my own :) 

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2 hours ago, Goldkaiser said:

Thanks for the reply and your helpful advice haven't been able to get a good connection in a while to reply. That tooth does indeed bare resemblance to my tooth. Hopefully one day I can find my own :) 

 

Always nice to help :)

I wish you the best of luck ! But i am sure you will find one on your own soon :1-SlapHands_zpsbb015b76:

Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

Belo.gif

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  • 1 month later...

Hi again !
I just found a very similar tooth in this museum; 

20170115_1643399.jpg

 

It was labeled as croc tooth but shadefully i cant find further information ...

Because of that i am now quite sure you have a croc tooth ...

Hope i could help !

Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

Belo.gif

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  • 3 years later...

I know this is a rather old one, but thought I'd chip in anyway in case anybody finds this page looking for information. But I agree with @belemniten that, based on what I've seen come from the Posidonia Shale - in museums, online and in my own collection - this is indeed a crocodile tooth. In the Posidonia Shale teeth of this sort are attributed to Steneosaurus bollensis, and since several species of Steneosaurus have also been found from the British Jurassic, I'd feel confident in classifying this tooth as Steneosaurus sp. Especially the below photograph nicely illustrates the striations on either side of the carina coming together towards the tooth's apex.

 

On 11/28/2016 at 12:08 PM, Goldkaiser said:

IMG_4884.JPG

 

Nice fossil!

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'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett

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