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Another Phantom Dromaeosaurid Tooth? - Kem Kem


Omnomosaurus

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I decided last week to keep an eye out for any of those elusive dromaeosaurid-like teeth from the Kem Kem....I think I got super lucky and found one within days!!

 

The morphology doesn't match up with anything I'm familiar with from Morocco, so I'm thinking it fits quite nicely with the general appearance of a dromaeosaur tooth.

 

Apologies for the quality of the photos. I've taken a lot of snaps, but just can't get any super clear shots.

 

 

 

The tooth is 13.5mm in height. Tall and strongly laterally compressed, with a definite recurve.

 

Please be my guest at trying to count the denticles; I've squinted and gone cross-eyed trying, but by my best count it's...

 

Mesial midline: 8/9 per mm

Distal midline: 5 per mm

 

IMG_20190518_105514924.thumb.jpg.6c96b0082b99396923ad3f8fbfcd6526.jpgIMG_20190518_105707138.thumb.jpg.c658f812b501d8e01abb01cee70fa734.jpg

IMG_20190518_152312124.thumb.jpg.4ad09cd88149e2e352c1fce2ab618001.jpgIMG_20190518_152520385.thumb.jpg.c3ed430cf2271582c93b391e7dc4740a.jpg

 

 

 

The mesial carina terminates approx. half way down the anterior edge, and has a very slight twist. You can see where the carina ends in the next photo, as the surface transitions to an almost flat, smooth triangular shape down to the base of the crown (shape reminds me of a tyrannosaurid split carina).

 

Mesial:

 

IMG_20190518_114233090.thumb.jpg.72f7968bf132dc6c2d6ad348363ea6b4.jpg

 

Distal:

 

IMG_20190518_114457198.thumb.jpg.5ae5ee6eacfd5ba3264a049a10484826.jpg

 

Cross-section is "figure-of-8" shaped:

 

IMG_20190518_115509351.thumb.jpg.c911485a97c9e9b7fe111e1ce5f01823.jpg

 

"Pinch" at base (present on both labial & lingual faces):

 

IMG_20190518_115850641.thumb.jpg.5f007ec6489fe67e33137503e8c2c4b9.jpg

 

Sorry again for the sharpness of the photos. My camera is a potato when it gets to macro photos.

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Well it certainly has most of the characteristics that one could call this "Dromaeosaurid-like" although its height to base ratio (long and lean) is a bit off although still a good candidate.  Hopefully someday sooner than later paleontologists can confirm the presence of raptors in the Kem Kem or point us to what these type of teeth belong to.   Either way a good tooth add but dont stop looking since there are many different variations andcwho knows which ones fit what species.

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16 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Well it certainly has most of the characteristics that one could call this "Dromaeosaurid-like" although its height to base ratio (long and lean) is a bit off although still a good candidate.  Hopefully someday sooner than later paleontologists can confirm the presence of raptors in the Kem Kem or point us to what these type of teeth belong to.   Either way a good tooth add but dont stop looking since there are many different variations andcwho knows which ones fit what species.

 

Thanks Troodon! It's good to have some support on this one. At this rate, we'll be the fossils before palaeontologists identify everything coming out of the Kem Kem. :P Hopefully they do confirm raptors before too long though - that tooth in your collection surely can't be anything other than dromaeosaurid?!

 

I'm always on the look out for more unusual teeth from Morocco, so I'll definitely keep looking.

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show the serrations next to a ruler for scale (how dense they are) it might help and it does look like one and hopefully it is.:dinothumb:

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6 minutes ago, suchomimus20 said:

show the serrations next to a ruler for scale (how dense they are) it might help and it does look like one and hopefully it is.:dinothumb:

 

I've tried to take those photos a few times, but my camera keeps focussing on the ruler instead of the tooth - I'll give it another go with some fresh daylight tomorrow! :D

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1 minute ago, Omnomosaurus said:

 

I've tried to take those photos a few times, but my camera keeps focussing on the ruler instead of the tooth - I'll give it another go with some fresh daylight tomorrow! :D

same sometimes the camera focuses on the background or the picture is to blurry.

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4 minutes ago, suchomimus20 said:

same sometimes the camera focuses on the background or the picture is to blurry.

 

Yeah, the 20 or so photos that ended up deleted earlier can attest to that! :ighappy:

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  • 7 months later...

Finally got some clear close ups of the carinae!

 

Mesial Denticles:

Approx 6/1mm (midline)

 

1577289685862.jpg.815a4a836906d68772e5e48435ff9b6d.jpg

 

Distal Denticles:

Approx 5/1mm (midline)

 

1577289568114.jpg.a50b43cef871da84f5ff07689129f4e8.jpg

 

 

Judging from the similarity in serration density for both edges, I would say this discounts the tooth from being a contender for Dromaeosauridae.

 

Not sure whether it makes it more likely to belong to Noasauridae instead, as I believe they have a larger serration count on their mesial edges akin to Dromaeosaurids?

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  • 5 months later...
On 02/01/2020 at 6:59 AM, zekky said:

Megaratorid like tooth imo

 

Sorry zekky, I had no idea you'd commented!

 

Anything in particular about it that makes you think Megaraptorid?

 

Finally got some clear denticle shots to update too!

 

Mesial edge:

 

1591398699751.jpg.9e38d6288d41ff1a76304abcaea24e5f.jpg

 

Distal edge:

 

1591398845844.jpg.81b9db2ead7650a34efe15ef6807d9ca.jpg

1591398837790.jpg.e5664cfceac60d0491084624da81f80e.jpg

1591399410061.jpg.e1afe0c9519e348b91195b5a757e8373.jpg

1591399416087.jpg.e1ef3f99b02b86454d8be02fe095a8cf.jpg

 

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Just an update,  not sure if you've seen Ibrahims et al.  just published paper on the KK group fauna they make the following comment which supports your assesment:

"Tooth morphotype 3 includes relatively small teeth that may pertain to dromaeosau-
rid theropods. They are laterally compressed with a distal carina that is either concave, straight or gently convex. They are characterized by having distinctly larger serrations on the distal than mesial carina (Fig. 110F, G, K). Some have short “blood grooves” between the serrations."    C. Hendrickx however, in his Spino quadrate paper (2016) says these type of teeth may belong to a Noasaurid.  So who knows. 

 

One more point back to Ibrahims paper they also point to hand claws that may be similar to a Spinosaurid and Megaraptors.   Lots more to learn about whats in that fauna.

 

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7 hours ago, Troodon said:

Just an update,  not sure if you've seen Ibrahims et al.  just published paper on the KK group fauna they make the following comment which supports your assesment:

"Tooth morphotype 3 includes relatively small teeth that may pertain to dromaeosau-
rid theropods. They are laterally compressed with a distal carina that is either concave, straight or gently convex. They are characterized by having distinctly larger serrations on the distal than mesial carina (Fig. 110F, G, K). Some have short “blood grooves” between the serrations."    C. Hendrickx however, in his Spino quadrate paper (2016) says these type of teeth may belong to a Noasaurid.  So who knows. 

 

One more point back to Ibrahims paper they also point to hand claws that may be similar to a Spinosaurid and Megaraptors.   Lots more to learn about whats in that fauna.

 

 

Ah, thanks Troodon! Very interesting. I've been away from the forums for a bit, so looks like I've got some reading to catch up on haha!

 

I'm very surprised that there's a possibility of dromaeosaurid teeth with straight/convex distal carina being described by Ibrahims et al.

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My guess that was an error and should have said mesial.   That paper also identified some hand claws that may pertain to Dromaeosaurid's.  We just have to wait until someone publishes something without the word MAY.......

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6 hours ago, Troodon said:

My guess that was an error and should have said mesial.   That paper also identified some hand claws that may pertain to Dromaeosaurid's.  We just have to wait until someone publishes something without the word MAY.......

 

That would make more sense! Haha true, it says a lot that "may" finds its way into peer reviewed papers. At least research is slowly trickling out (emphasis on the slowly).

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