Paleoworld-101 Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 I collected these two small marine reptile teeth at the council fossil hunting site 2 near Richmond in Queensland, Australia. The location is a Cretaceous marine locality and exposes the Toolebuc Formation, about 100 million years old. Fossils of fish, sharks, ichthyosaurs, pliosaurs and other types of plesiosaur, pterosaurs and turtles are all known from the area. These two teeth i believe could be associated, as they were found in the same fishy layer less than 30 centimetres from one another and exhibit similar features. Marine reptile teeth are also not very common here in general so it would be quite coincidental. The main options are Ichthyosaur (Platypterygius australis) or some kind of plesiosaur. I am leaning towards plesiosaur but would like more opinions. Both teeth have a weird appearance where the enamel covers the tip of the tooth only, then there is a middle section with no enamel that is quite smoothened off and finally at the base of both teeth the crown-root junction appears to be reached. I originally thought the middle section being free of enamel was simply a wear-related thing but the fact that both teeth are like this and especially in the smaller one the feature seems to be quite clear so i'm now confused. The closest match i have so far seen from browsing pictures is teeth of the polycotylid plesiosaur Dolichorhynchops. Obviously this genus is not present in this location, but there is however an unnamed polycotylid plesiosaur from Richmond. Perhaps these teeth come from this animal? The smaller tooth measures only 12 mm and the larger one 19 mm. Tooth 1 Tooth 2 For comparison, here is a picture of the teeth of Dolychorhynchops The smaller ones especially resemble my smaller tooth above in shape, but don't seem to have the same smooth mid section before the root To make things even more interesting, i also found this similar tooth last year from Richmond but at a different locality. The general consensus on this forum was that it was plesiosaurian not ichthyosaur. It also has a clearly enameled tip then a smooth or non enameled mid section and then possibly the top of the root at the very bottom. Another coincidence? Am i completely nuts? I'll let you decide "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 @Mike from North Queensland?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 12, 2017 Author Share Posted August 12, 2017 Where are the marine reptile people?? "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 13, 2017 Share Posted August 13, 2017 2 hours ago, Paleoworld-101 said: Where are the marine reptile people?? Probably out hunting for fossils, it is the weekend after all. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 13, 2017 Author Share Posted August 13, 2017 Gonna keep bumping this until i get at least one legitimate response... "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 @JohnBrewer might have an idea. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Maybe try to contact Tim Holland or Patrick somehow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Asked one of the curators (Michelle) for you; said they'll have a response by tomorrow "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Also asked another member of this forum that isn't on often but has a few plesiosaur, ichthyosaur, and pliosaur teeth-he thinks definitely plesiosaur, possibly Doli. Also said he believes the striations did once fully cover the crowns and that their absence is probably from wear or post-preservation exposure. "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 I'm gonna say the first two teeth are ichthyosaur, the striations are very similar to mine. I, of course, and no expert though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 21 hours ago, Foozil said: Maybe try to contact Tim Holland or Patrick somehow? Yeah i will if we can't resolve it ourselves. 18 hours ago, Jesuslover340 said: Asked one of the curators (Michelle) for you; said they'll have a response by tomorrow Thanks Skye!! 11 hours ago, Jesuslover340 said: Also asked another member of this forum that isn't on often but has a few plesiosaur, ichthyosaur, and pliosaur teeth-he thinks definitely plesiosaur, possibly Doli. Also said he believes the striations did once fully cover the crowns and that their absence is probably from wear or post-preservation exposure. Logically i also think the middle sections should have been covered too, it's just weird that all three of these potential plesiosaur teeth i have found show this feature. For the first two it would have to have been wear before deposition occurred as i dug them straight out of fresh in-situ layers. 3 hours ago, Foozil said: I'm gonna say the first two teeth are ichthyosaur, the striations are very similar to mine. I, of course, and no expert though. Got any pics? "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 I have just exposed more of the first, smaller tooth and added a couple more pictures below. "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 "Hi Skyelar, they are an ichthyosaur tooth and plesiosaur tooth in that order. Sorry I thought it was only Tooth 1 & 2 that Paleoworld-101 was asking about. Tooth 3 is perhaps plesiosaur - difficult to see curvature on tooth without further prep. Only one species of Ichthy in Aust that I am aware of. No further info for plesiosaur. Cheers, Michelle" 2 "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 "one species of icthyosaur in Australia" There are some other un-named ones from the area, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 42 minutes ago, Jesuslover340 said: "Hi Skyelar, they are an ichthyosaur tooth and plesiosaur tooth in that order. Sorry I thought it was only Tooth 1 & 2 that Paleoworld-101 was asking about. Tooth 3 is perhaps plesiosaur - difficult to see curvature on tooth without further prep. Only one species of Ichthy in Aust that I am aware of. No further info for plesiosaur. Cheers, Michelle" Thanks for posting this. I guess they aren't associated then, strange that they were so close though considering how uncommon teeth like this are in general. "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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