Purchasing Tyrannosaur teeth

[fossil_sea_urchin 11]

I don't have any tyrannosaur teeth in my collection, so I am looking for advice when purchasing teeth from these famous theropods.

Does this tooth look look like daspletosaurus, it 9cm long. 

 

The seller has not put any locality on as far as I can see.

[gigantoraptor 951]

You need to know the geologic formation before you can determine Tyrannosaurid teeth. Daspletosaurus lived together with Gorgosaurus and teeth can't be distinguished between these two genera, but with a tooth this size it propably is Daspletosaurus. Daspletosaurus horneri lived in the Two Medicine Formation. Daspletosaurus sp. might be present in the Judith river also but is not described. 

 

Does the seller give the the specific formation?

[TyBoy 245]

Yep, without locality it's going to be impossible to give you an answer.  It certainly has the length of being a Daspletosaurus but isolated teeth are very hard to ID.  Not sure what the max is on a Gorgosaurus.    Does the tooth have serrations will not help with the ID but the overall quality?

[Max-fossils 1,368]

Can't help with ID, but if the seller gives no locality information I would be cautious already. It might be a completely different tyrannosaurid, not Daspletosaurus. Plus it's generally not a good sign if a dealer sells fossils without giving accurate information. But if the price is good on this one in your eyes, then go ahead and buy it  

 

(Btw I don't think this is in the right forum, it should be in the Fossil ID  I'm sure the admins can take care of that tho)

[Kane 5,494]

And so it was thusly moved. Thanks, Max. 

[-Andy- 1,278]

I know the dealer. It should be from Judith River Formation of Montana.

 

Its big size gives it a good chance of being Daspletosaurus. Go for it. If I didn't already have a big one, I would've gotten this.

[TyBoy 245]

If its indeed from the Judith River its possible its a Daspletosaurus indet. since its not described, but you need to confirm the locality.  The operative word is "possible" and there is no way to be positive.  I've seen some very large Gorgosaurus teeth and it would need to be at least 4", +10cm to be sure its Daspletosaurus.

[Jaimin013 517]

I had been thinking of buying this particular tooth a while back but as I would rather save up money for one without restoration i hadnt however this particular one looks really nice even with restoration. I know the seller and they are very honest and transparent and make it clear by doing any restoration work in the colour that you can see in the photo. It could possibly well be daspletosaurus and the wear facets on the tooth give it character.

[TyBoy 245]

I took a look at what the seller was offering and its a mixed bag of Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus teeth.  I really question that he has a firm grip on his offerings since his Daspletosaurus teeth range from small to large.   If the Albertosaurus teeth are not from Canada thats a problem.  Anyway its a very nice Tyrannosaurid indet tooth that you are looking at and should be labeled has such.

[paulyb135 265]

Great tooth at what I would say is a reasonable price based on the size and condition. I would definitely buy it if I could afford to

 

You would need to request further images of the serrations too

Edited February 10 by paulyb135
Amendment

[fossil_sea_urchin 11]

Thanks for the replies everyone! 

[fossil_sea_urchin 11]

I am very close to buying the tooth, but another one caught my attention. The tooth is 1.65 inches long and is from the Aguja formation. 

Is it rarer?

[fossil_sea_urchin 11]

Sorry about the tiny pictures.

[gigantoraptor 951]

Well there aren't any Tyrannosaurids described from the Aguja formation so there isn't much to say about these teeth. I don't see Aguja teeth that much but If I had to choose I would go for the huge Judith river tooth instead of this small tooth. Buth that decision has every collector to make for himself I guess.

[fossil_sea_urchin 11]

4 minutes ago, gigantoraptor said:

Well there aren't any Tyrannosaurids described from the Aguja formation so there isn't much to say about these teeth. I don't see Aguja teeth that much but If I had to choose I would go for the huge Judith river tooth instead of this small tooth. Buth that decision has every collector to make for himself I guess.

Would you describe the judith river tooth as unusually large?

[gigantoraptor 951]

3 minutes ago, fossil_sea_urchin said:

Would you describe the judith river tooth as unusually large?

Yes I think this is a very big tooth. Teeth this size are rare but do occur. I heard all teeth bigger than 3 inch are most likely Daspletosaurus.