Omnomosaurus Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 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 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: Distal: Cross-section is "figure-of-8" shaped: "Pinch" at base (present on both labial & lingual faces): Sorry again for the sharpness of the photos. My camera is a potato when it gets to macro photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 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. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 A couple more photos that show serrations slightly better: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suchomimus20 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 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. 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suchomimus20 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 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! same sometimes the camera focuses on the background or the picture is to blurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 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! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 Finally got some clear close ups of the carinae! Mesial Denticles: Approx 6/1mm (midline) Distal Denticles: Approx 5/1mm (midline) 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? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zekky Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Megaratorid like tooth imo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 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: Distal edge: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted June 6, 2020 Share Posted June 6, 2020 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. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted June 6, 2020 Share Posted June 6, 2020 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....... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnomosaurus Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 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). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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