Baby dinosaur?

[Crazyhen]

Would it be possible to tell what kind of dinosaur(?) is this?  As it’s quite small, would it be a baby dinosaur?

 

it is from Ganzhou, Jiangxi of China.

[Fossildude19]

I don't think it would be possible unless you got an x-ray of it, or it was prepped out totally.   

 

 

[Troodon]

Your photos continue to be inadequate to make any determination of what you have and there is no scale to determine size.  We need high resolution closeup pictures on your requests if you expect good answers.  A HD picture of the teeth might help get you an answer but it's just a blur when blown up.  Like Tim indicated prepping is a must but I doubt that will be done in the short term.  Just because it's small does not mean it's a baby there are lots small dinosaurs. 

 

[Haravex]

First of let me say fantastic find by the brief glimpse we see through the matrix however as stated above from the small glimpse we have it is hard to determine what this is at this point in the prep work, however some indications of what helps to identify a baby or juvenile animal is the lack of fused skull remains this is something you should keep a look out for while prepping, and I wish you the best of luck.

 

When looking at what i assume is the skull the maxila and pre-maxila seem to look complete fused however that is only from the low non close up images shown here and that idea might very well change with additional images. 

[jpc]

I would also like to see good close ups of the teeth. What age is this deposit?  

[Haravex]

@jpc It could be from the Nanxiong Formation which is late Cretaceous period however there is no way of knowing until the OP replies.

[Miocene_Mason]

Bet you got a small insectivorous or herbivorous dinosaur. An image of a specific dinosaur comes to mind but I forget the name...

[doushantuo]

Found where?

[Crazyhen]

Thanks all for your interest and help with identifying this fossil.  The fossil belongs to a friend in China and I am requesting him to get me some higher resolution photos.  There are not much information on where it is found except that it’s said to be found in Ganzhou of Jiangxi Province.

[LordTrilobite]

It definitely looks like there's a type of reptile with a skull in there. As the others have said, prepping is likely needed to get good info. But a scale and better photos will also help.

 

In the last photo is looks like we're looking at the top of a skull. The supratemporal fenestra are visible on the back of the skull and one orbit for the eye is visible as well. There's a premaxilla that's floated away a little from the rest of the skull as well as a piece with small teeth in it. This might be the other premaxilla or maybe part of the dentary.

[Troodon]

With it being in Ganzhou I agree most likely from  Nanxiong Formation which is mostly in Guangdong Province but extends north into that City.  Unfortunately most of the Discoveries have been Oviraptoridae and six have been named from this fauna which is unreal.  Anyway this skull is not one and hopefully better images of  the teeth can tell what it is.   The skull also does not match the other two named Theropods.   It also might not be dinosaurian or something new.

[LordTrilobite]

It seems like it might have some resemblance to some primitive Ceratopsians, like Auroraceratops for example.

[Crazyhen]

Hi, all, I have finally gotten some better photos of the fossil from my friend.  The fossil is small, measuring 16x20cm.  The teeth are tiny as shown in the photos.

[Crazyhen]

[Crazyhen]

[Crazyhen]

[Troodon]

Although the photos are much better we really do not have HD closeups of the teeth to help but they appear broken anyway.  The only hope to obtain a general ID is with those images..   Could be a small Ornithischian like a Hypsilophodont 

[Crazyhen]

Close-ups of the teeth:

[Troodon]

Thank you.

 

You guys have any ideas.  Nothing rings at this end other spoon like teeth in  sauropod.  

@jpc

@LordTrilobite

@hxmendoza

 

[LordTrilobite]

Here's what I think I'm seeing. All of this is tentative though. With teeth on the premaxilla and such a large orbit I think Troodon might be on the right track with a Hypsolophodontid. If that's the case though, there should be also teeth on the maxilla, which aren't visible right now. I don't see it fitting with Sauropod.

So I think this desperately needs some careful prepping.

 

[Troodon]

The visible teeth fit Hypsilophodont so does the size and shape of the skull.   I put out sauropod as an alternative since I did not see the canine teeth.  The skull does work,  they are not large dinos.

If it's one definitely a new species to that fauna 

[Miocene_Mason]

On 1/4/2018 at 7:43 AM, Troodon said:

Hypsilophodont

That’s the Dino I was thinking of! Don’t know much about it other then it’s general head and tooth shape.

[jpc]

I am also seeing the same structures as Lord T.  Small hyps is a good guess.  I am also thinking this needs some professional prep.   It looks like small, delicate bones and teeth in pretty hard rock... a challenge to say the least.  This thing definitely needs to be prepped under a binocular microscope.  The tool marks show a big tool; it demands smaller tools.   In one of the last photos, there are tool marks going right through many broken bones... again, needs more delicate prep work.  This is a potentially really cool specimen and would be a great subject for a donation to a local paleo museum.  (Or sell it to one of the rich guys running private museums in China).  This may not be what your friend wants to hear, but that is my opinion.    

[Crazyhen]

Thanks all for the advice and comments.  It is indeed an interesting find.  But sadly, as usual, this fossil was partly damaged by the crude and rude way of recovering.  Those tool marks were not from prepping tools, they were left by digging tools of construction workers when the fossil was dug up and which has resulted unfortunately in the damages we have seen.  This unfortunately happens quite often as you might have also noticed from the similar marks shown in the dinosaur eggs I posted earlier.

[Crazyhen]

Has any Hypsilophodont been discovered in China? And even Hypsilophodont is a small dinosaur, does this one look like a juvenile since it’s pretty small?