Aurelius Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I did some macro photography of one of my Kem Kem teeth (one of those smaller, unidentified dinosaurs), just for kicks. This tooth is under 1cm long. However, I noticed this strange, cross-hatched pattern in beneath the serrations - is this a normal thing? How does it come about? Possibly some sort of cleaning marks? I am curious to know! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 43 minutes ago, Aurelius said: However, I noticed this strange, cross-hatched pattern in beneath the serrations - is this a normal thing? How does it come about? Possibly some sort of cleaning marks? I am curious to know! Wow, these are some amazing images .... is this using a standard camera SLR ? I don't know much about theropod teeth. Those marks are interesting .. some of them look rounded on the edges ... almost soft. I wonder if it is some sort of micro-wear pattern or feeding pattern that was left behind ? It looks so symmetrical. Cheers, Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 First it looks natural but its hard to say if its a normal texture since so little has been published in the Kem Kem so there are lots of unknowns. Theropod enamel texture can be quite diverse its not necessarily smooth. Currently its categorized as four types. A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia) Article in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology · September 2015 Impact Factor: 1.98 · DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2015.982797 Christophe Hendrickx et al 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 28 minutes ago, Troodon said: First it looks natural but its hard to say if its a normal texture since so little has been published in the Kem Kem so there are lots of unknowns. Hi @Troodon .. I think he meant the tiny abrasions (scratches) etched into the enamel texture. These marks ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelius Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 49 minutes ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said: Wow, these are some amazing images .... is this using a standard camera SLR ? I don't know much about theropod teeth. Those marks are interesting .. some of them look rounded on the edges ... almost soft. I wonder if it is some sort of micro-wear pattern or feeding pattern that was left behind ? It looks so symmetrical. Thanks Brett. I use a Nikon D800 with a microscope objective mounted onto the front of a 70-300mm lens (plus lots of complex lighting). I'm hoping to make some sort of income selling prints of my pictures, but fossil images are a little niche! The marks do seem a bit unusual to me. As though that part of the tooth has scraped against something. Obviously they are incredibly fine marks, on such a tiny tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 5 minutes ago, Aurelius said: The marks do seem a bit unusual to me. As though that part of the tooth has scraped against something. Obviously they are incredibly fine marks, on such a tiny tooth. The only related paper that I could find with a quick search had images with marks that are a bit more random (muuuch smaller) .... but the feeding habits and morphology obviously could be vastly different from one species to the next. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-dinosaurs-tooth-predatory.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 28 minutes ago, Aurelius said: The marks do seem a bit unusual to me. Again, I won't assume anything about dino teeth .. but shark tooth wear/bite damage does have its own patterns. Here is one from Florida bone valley as an example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Yeah, could be micro wear related to feeding. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Zooming in on the photos, the marks appear more like tiny cracks than scratches. The two different directions reminds me of stress related cracks, probably from being compress in the sediment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Al Dente said: Zooming in on the photos, the marks appear more like tiny cracks than scratches. The two different directions reminds me of stress related cracks, probably from being compress in the sediment. This is where my thought lays as well. "Stress fractures" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 10 hours ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said: Hi @Troodon .. I think he meant the tiny abrasions (scratches) etched into the enamel texture. These marks ... Thanks did not see those marks, agree with the others look like stress cracks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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