False False Mako? Relatively large, curved root, no bourlette.

[MrR]

Oh, and one other tooth that I (actually my dig-happy girlfriend found the Tiger) found at Ernst yesterday. It looks like a relatively common lower Mako, but has such a bulbous root on it that I originally thought it was the elusive Paratodus Benendeni. However, it not having a bourlette leads me to believe that it's truly a false, False Mako. Thoughts? The blue cube is 1" square. Many thanks.

 

I just realized that the false False Mako even has a false bourlette (Mineral staining) on it.

[DatFossilBoy]

It is not a benedini in my opinion, just by looking at how straight the tooth is.

Maybe others will post their thoughts.

Kind regards.

[Macrophyseter]

IMO it could be a patho or some geological distortion

[MrR]

Thanks, Macrophyseter. It being a pathology had crossed my mind. It does have that groove (nutrient?) that seems to be more central on most other Makos I've seen. Cheers.

[MrR]

55 minutes ago, DatFossilBoy said:

It is not a benedini in my opinion, just by looking at how straight the tooth is.

Maybe others will post their thoughts.

Kind regards.

Thanks, DatFossilBoy. I agree that it seems too straight. It does, however, have a subtle curve towards the tip, which is one thing that made me uncertain. The other thing was that I had told @caldigger that I was going to find a Paratodus yesterday, and it's as close as I got.  Cheers.

[Gizmo]

Link to dentition, scroll down. -

 

 

[caldigger]

Brian, can you show us a shot of it in side profile?

[DatFossilBoy]

25 minutes ago, MrR said:

Thanks, DatFossilBoy. I agree that it seems too straight. It does, however, have a subtle curve towards the tip, which is one thing that made me uncertain. The other thing was that I had told @caldigger that I was going to find a Paratodus yesterday, and it's as close as I got.  Cheers.

It’s very intriguing indeed. It looks like the the root is abnormally fat. Shark on steroids?

Curious to see additional answers  

[MrR]

36 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Brian, can you show us a shot of it in side profile?

Be happy to.

 

The dimensions via digital caliper are ~29mm on longest diagonal, ~21mm wide across root, and ~9mm thick at thickest part when slightly cocked to get base of crown. Let me know if anything else would help. Thanks for checking it out. Cheers.

 

[MrR]

1 hour ago, Gizmo said:

Link to dentition, scroll down. -

 

 

Wow, well, that 24mm that's at the lower left in the "Paratodus sp." group picture (From Gizmo's very informative link. Thanks.), sure looks similar. No? Interesting. I await more responses. Thanks, all.

[ynot]

@siteseer @MarcoSr

[hemipristis]

2 hours ago, MrR said:

Wow, well, that 24mm that's at the lower left in the "Paratodus sp." group picture (From Gizmo's very informative link. Thanks.), sure looks similar. No? Interesting. I await more responses. Thanks, all.

Overall quite similar, but the root appears different, "v-shaped" rather than that distinctive "u". All, the intact root lobe is rather pointed, while these are rounded.  I think it's a lower I. hastqalis

[MarcoSr]

14 hours ago, hemipristis said:

Overall quite similar, but the root appears different, "v-shaped" rather than that distinctive "u". All, the intact root lobe is rather pointed, while these are rounded.  I think it's a lower I. hastqalis

 

Below are pictures from Kent And Powell from the Mosasaur May 1999.  If the specimen was a Parotodus, it would be an a1 or a2 lower tooth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, I fully agree with hemipristis that " Overall quite similar, but the root appears different, "v-shaped" rather than that distinctive "u". All, (sic) the intact root lobe is rather pointed, while these are rounded." 

 

However, I think that the tooth is a lower I. planus rather than a C. hastalis.

 

Marco Sr.

[MrR]

Thank you for supplying great references, as well as your learned conclusions, Marco Sr., hemipristis, and others who contributed. I will remember that with the Paratodus Benendeni, the "U" curve of the root is a prime diagnostic. Cheers all.