Jump to content

New Jersey Cretaceous tooth (Plesiosaur?)


frankh8147

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone!

 

I found this conical tooth last weekend in the Big Brook area of Monmouth County, NJ; it is a shade under 1 inch long. My best guess on it is Plesiosaur but I wanted to see what everyone had to say on it before I labeled it as such. As always, all help is greatly appreciated. Happy collecting! -Frank

 

pl1.jpg

pl3.jpg

pl.jpg

pl9.jpg

pl6.jpg

pllast.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely plesiosaur and a nice one! I think you can eliminate xiphactinus based off of the curve in the blade (even though Xiphactinus teeth can be curved slightly) and the relatively strong striations. 

 

Joseph

“You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice find!

"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

Might be plesiosaur,  might also be enchodus.  I have an enchodus or two from there, and they have pretty strong striations on them.

  • I found this Informative 1

For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun.
-Aldo Leopold
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the responses so far! I did find some pictures online of Plesiosaur teeth that appear to have that edge (both New Jersey sites) but that doesn't mean they weren't misidentified too. I think I can (almost) rule out fish. I have dozens of enchodus teeth and they really don't match, plus this tooth looks reptilian to me. As per crocodile, I havent seen any that looked like from New Jersey before but I believe there were some similar found in Cretaceous deposits in the southern US.

So I guess everyone everyone is split right now?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm also leaning towards plesiosaur but agree that there should be no trace of carinae. If so, I would lean towards Xiphactinus. I don't see a croc there.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Carl said:

I'm also leaning towards plesiosaur but agree that there should be no trace of carinae. If so, I would lean towards Xiphactinus. I don't see a croc there.

Thats pretty much where I'm at. Of course that side had to be the one that is broken so it's hard to tell. It kind of looks like the one on the fossilsofnj website (I do see a distinct line on that one but it doesnt look like carinae). I couldnt figure out how to download that picture to this site, sorry about that.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm looking around the forum and found this one which is a very nice match with enamel and striations...although this doesn't really help with that troubling carinae.

 

Edited - I may be able to rule out Xiphactinus; the New Jersey sites say Xiphactinus teeth have two cutting edges (double carinae). On this tooth, only that broken side shows what may be carinae. Do all Xiphactinus teeth have two cutting edges?

Edited by frankh8147
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One more picture for comparison sake. The tooth in question is on the right; on the left is a confirmed xiphactinus tooth that I found very close to this tooth. Like the others I have seen, the Xiphactinus has two cutting edges.

plxiph.jpg

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Frank, sorry to bring this back up again, but I am interested in knowing whether you have an ID for the specimen. I am torn between Xiphactinus. That recent Xiphactinus I found only has one cutting edge. So, 2 cutting edges is not a guarantee for Xiphactinus.

 

0115190909b.thumb.jpg.7ce299df0f590f09ec20c5489ecf7dfc.jpg

  • I found this Informative 1

: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problem Trevor!

 

I showed this to the NJSM and a few local collectors we know and we do believe it to be a Plesiosaur tooth. I would like to see yours sometime in the future - that's a cool tooth!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is where a key would be a good thing if anyone had the gumption to make one! The key could include all of the teeth we confuse including mosasaur, croc, plesiosaur and any bony fish found at Big Brook for instance. Perhaps keys are archaic as I haven't seen a new one in a while. They sure do work well.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...