Still_human Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 i don't know much at all about Cretaceous crocodiles other than there were a ton of them. From what I hear, so many it's difficult to ID even if you have a good amount of an animals fossils, unless it's one of the number of very unique looking species that have a clear signiture. Sadly I'm guessing this fits into the former;difficult/near impossible to ID from just this. *Its a Cretaceous species, from the second phosphatic layer of the phosphate mines in the suburb of Khouribga, Morocco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 Likely Dyrosaurus I'd say. Very nice piece. Some reference: 5 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 Oh cool, thanks! Dyrosaurus must have been a common species of the time, I see more fossils of theirs than most other crocs. Both Dyrosaurus and Elosuchus. They didn't overlap, so I wonder if they both fit into the same environmental neiche, as one-another? If they were the eachother's counterpart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Well Dyrosaurus and Elosuchus are related. And judging from the similar jaw structure, they likely had roughly similar feeding styles. Thin jaws with pointy teeth often is evidence for a fish diet. Jaws like that can close fast and the pointy teeth are great for grabbing small slippery prey. Both are also related to Sarcosuchus. Dyrosaurus is much smaller in general. Dyrosaurus lived alongside the Mosasaurs in the Maastrichtian and seemed to also have survived the K/t boundry. Elosuchus is much larger and lived during the Cenomanian just at the start of the Late Cretaceous. 2 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Elosuchus was more cenomanian or later like LT said so I would also lean toward Dyrosaurus. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Oh it's definitely not Elosuchus. I've never heard of it appearing in the Khouribga phosphate beds and the teeth are also a different shape. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamL Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Really nice jaw, are the teeth original or put in? Yorkshire Coast Fossil Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 On 8/14/2018 at 1:35 PM, LordTrilobite said: Oh it's definitely not Elosuchus. I've never heard of it appearing in the Khouribga phosphate beds and the teeth are also a different shape. Oh, yeah, I'm sure you're right. I wasn't bring it up as a possibility, but just as a comparison to the dyro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 On 8/14/2018 at 3:00 PM, LiamL said: Really nice jaw, are the teeth original or put in? I believe original, although it hasn't arrived yet. They look totally original from what I can see though. ...although I'm half expecting someone to say that they definitely DONT look original to them lol. To the best of my knowledge, they look original from the pictures:) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 It seems to be all original. Multiple the teeth have that sand stuff around the teeth bases, but I believe it's just to fill in space and help give them more support because on most of those I can see partly under the sand areas and can tell the teeth are actually naturally planted into the bone:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I hear what you said but I suspect the teeth are composited as low as they are sitting. Sand is what typically is used to fill in teeth. You should be seeing a root around the bone line not tooth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share Posted August 24, 2018 I'll take a closer look when I get home again. There wasn't sand around all of them, and the sanded ones still look the same as the natural ones, just with the sand around parts of the teeth. I was looking at it pretty closely, specifically about the sand and if the teeth were placed or natural, and i was satisfied that they were the real deal. Of course now im gonna hafta check again. In fact, every time the thought crosses my mind im going to worry that maybe I was mistaken every time Iv looked, and will feel the need to recheck! I'll still be checking those teeth for years to come!!! "Maybe I was wrong those first 76 times I checked...I really better take another look...just to be COMPLETELY sure!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share Posted August 24, 2018 I'll take close up pictures later so you guys can take a look. Ugh, even if I WAS sure, i have a very poor track record of things when it comes to what Ive posted pictures of on here...I may have just jinxed myself. They WERE natural until I JUST said I'd post pictures....they've just now become unoriginal teeth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Yes, they're definitely the original teeth. Ive been cleaning the sand away and they're definitely "built in" to the bone. I'll post pictures when I reattach the top half of a tooth that broke, and am posting it into me gallery:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Could Phosphatosaurus gavialoides be a possibility? That's what my croc jaw piece from Khouribga is labeled as (but the age of this one is said to be Ypresian Eocene): 1 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Good point actually. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 13 hours ago, LordTrilobite said: Good point actually. I know pretty much nothing about crocs, but I can see that both fossils are pretty similar and from the same location so I thought why not... It could very well also be that the ID on my jaw is wrong. 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 unless the given age on yours is incorrect, they're from extremely distant time periods. I could definitely be wrong, but I think that shape of jaw is a very common one throughout crocodile history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 11 minutes ago, Still_human said: unless the given age on yours is incorrect, they're from extremely distant time periods. I could definitely be wrong, but I think that shape of jaw is a very common one throughout crocodile history. I am very confused as to what ages are found in the Khouribga phosphate mines TBH. I know for sure about the Maastrichtian, late Cretaceous (--> mosasaurs, etc). But for the Paleogene, I have no clue if it's Eocene, Paleocene, and which stages, and all that. So for my jaw, I just trusted the info the seller gave me. 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still_human Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Max-fossils said: I am very confused as to what ages are found in the Khouribga phosphate mines TBH. I know for sure about the Maastrichtian, late Cretaceous (--> mosasaurs, etc). But for the Paleogene, I have no clue if it's Eocene, Paleocene, and which stages, and all that. So for my jaw, I just trusted the info the seller gave me. Yeah, like you I know the phosphate mines have Cretaceous fossils, but other than that, I'm not sure. Do you know if they even HAVE other period deposits there? As for other sites in that area(of the world), other than Cretaceous, I know that there is an Eocene deposit in that general morocco/Egypt/Sahara area. That's where they find all those basilosaurs and stuff. I don't know where in relation to the Cretaceous deposit, the Eocene is. For all I know it could be on the same site, just higher up, but I think both of them are basically ground level, so they must be different areas, if that's the case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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