Mosasaur tooth

[DSMJake]

This is a recent acquisition from everyone’s favorite auction site. It’s 6.8 cm and was reportedly collected from Ouled Abdoun. I was curious what you all thought. For what it’s worth, it was listed as hainosaurus. Thanks!

[Bone guy]

Certainly is real. It's a nice size too. I'm not familiar enough with the Moroccan mosasaurs to tell you the genus, would need some better opinions.

[Macrophyseter]

As far as my knowledge goes, there has been no occurrences of Hainosaurus in Morocco, and as far as I know, they have only been found in and around Northwestern Europe (Low Countries and surrounding regions). Nevertheless, Hainosaurus teeth always have a certain striation pattern, which this tooth does not have. This tooth in question is smooth and striationless. So unfortunately, you got scammed .

 

I have noticed that people have started labeling Moroccan mosasaur teeth in our favorite auction site as Hainosaurus, although this is clearly misled. It is more likely due to misinformation that went out of control or a cruel attempt at a cash grab. Misinformation/cash-grabs like this is very common in our auction site, and if you are less knowledged, you can easily be scammed. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy there, you simply must be careful and do research before buying.

 

What the actual species this tooth might be may be hard to identify. There are many species of mosasaurs in Morocco, with a number of them having teeth very similar to each other. This means that it is difficult to identify species based on individual teeth alone. I think that possible species for the tooth could be either Prognathodon anceps or Mosasaurus beaugei, but let the real experts have their word first.

[DSMJake]

54 minutes ago, Macrophyseter said:

As far as my knowledge goes, there has been no occurrences of Hainosaurus in Morocco, and as far as I know, they have only been found in and around Northwestern Europe (Low Countries and surrounding regions). Nevertheless, Hainosaurus teeth always have a certain striation pattern, which this tooth does not have. This tooth in question is smooth and striationless. So unfortunately, you got scammed .

 

I have noticed that people have started labeling Moroccan mosasaur teeth in our favorite auction site as Hainosaurus, although this is clearly misled. It is more likely due to misinformation that went out of control or a cruel attempt at a cash grab. Misinformation/cash-grabs like this is very common in our auction site, and if you are less knowledged, you can easily be scammed. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy there, you simply must be careful and do research before buying.

 

What the actual species this tooth might be may be hard to identify. There are many species of mosasaurs in Morocco, with a number of them having teeth very similar to each other. This means that it is difficult to identify species based on individual teeth alone. I think that possible species for the tooth could be either Prognathodon anceps or Mosasaurus beaugei, but let the real experts have their word first.

Good points. I felt like the price was reasonable for a large mosasaur tooth ($30), so I got it in spite of my doubts about the ID. I’ve gotten the impression that some sellers just throw Hainosaurus on any tooth that’s on the larger side regardless of morphology.