More Mesaverde ID help needed

[fossilsonwheels]

I have a few more micro finds from the Mesaverde matrix that I could use some ID help with. I found additional information as well, these micros come from the Rollins member. Given the lack of information on line I am not sure how much that helps if at all. 

 

First up is the one that at first glance looked like it might be a ray of some kind but am pretty stumped.  I could not find any good matches for this one and I searched pretty hard. It is 2mm or so in size and this is the best I could do picture wise. I really have no idea what it is. 

[fossilsonwheels]

A shark tooth that I think might be a sand shark of some type but I am not really sure. It is around 4-5mm. I am going to try to remove some of the matrix which may help me. 

[hemipristis]

top photo is a little rough. might be a batoid tooth

 

At a casual glance at the second tooth I think of Scyliorhinus, but the age is wrong

 

Lots of good Cretaceous folks here that will come along soon

[fossilsonwheels]

9 minutes ago, hemipristis said:

top photo is a little rough. might be a batoid tooth

 

At a casual glance at the second tooth I think of Scyliorhinus, but the age is wrong

 

Lots of good Cretaceous folks here that will come along soon

I am going to attempt to take better pictures tomorrow. It is not easy to take good pictures of these tiny teeth lol

[hemipristis]

3 minutes ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I am going to attempt to take better pictures tomorrow. It is not easy to take good pictures of these tiny teeth lol

yup. Just bought a microscope w/camera myself. I can't shoot decent closeups to save my life, lol

[fossilsonwheels]

21 minutes ago, hemipristis said:

yup. Just bought a microscope w/camera myself. I can't shoot decent closeups to save my life, lol

The more I get into micros, the more I think I may have to put one of those on the list of stuff to get. Have fun with it !

[siteseer]

On 9/3/2019 at 6:51 PM, fossilsonwheels said:

I have a few more micro finds from the Mesaverde matrix that I could use some ID help with. I found additional information as well, these micros come from the Rollins member. Given the lack of information on line I am not sure how much that helps if at all. 

 

First up is the one that at first glance looked like it might be a ray of some kind but am pretty stumped.  I could not find any good matches for this one and I searched pretty hard. It is 2mm or so in size and this is the best I could do picture wise. I really have no idea what it is. 

 

 

When shooting shark teeth, you need to get at least a front view and a rear view.  It helps to add a profile view.  If it's weird, throw in a shot from above and one from below.  For a ray tooth you want a shot of it upright as if you are looking straight at it from outside the mouth so that you're seeing a good view of the root and then a shot of the opposite side and also a shot from above because we need to see the biting surface.  That one might be incomplete - may be tough to identify.

 

Jess

 

 

[siteseer]

22 hours ago, hemipristis said:

top photo is a little rough. might be a batoid tooth

 

At a casual glance at the second tooth I think of Scyliorhinus, but the age is wrong

 

Lots of good Cretaceous folks here that will come along soon

 

 

I think it is at least from the Scyliorhinidae but would be tough to identify to genus without some study.  There are Cretaceous cat sharks.  Welton and Farish (1993) noted undescribed forms from as far back as the Albian in Texas and Ward (2010) discussed forms from the Albian of the United Kingdom..

 

Ward, D.J.  2010.

Sharks and Rays in Young, J.R., A.S. Gale, R.I. Knight and A.B. Smith (eds.).  Fossils of the Gault Clay.  The Palaeontological Association.  London. 342 pp.

 

Welton, B. and R. Farish.  1993.

 The Collector's Guide to Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas. Before Time, Texas. 204 pp.

 

 

[fossilsonwheels]

3 hours ago, siteseer said:

 

 

When shooting shark teeth, you need to get at least a front view and a rear view.  It helps to add a profile view.  If it's weird, throw in a shot from above and one from below.  For a ray tooth you want a shot of it upright as if you are looking straight at it from outside the mouth so that you're seeing a good view of the root and then a shot of the opposite side and also a shot from above because we need to see the biting surface.  That one might be incomplete - may be tough to identify.

 

Jess

 

 

Jess

 

I was not entirely sure what was front and what was rear with this one lol I will work on getting better pictures of that one. The learning curve with these micros is pretty big so it will take some time to get better at photographing them.

[fossilsonwheels]

3 hours ago, siteseer said:

 

 

I think it is at least from the Scyliorhinidae but would be tough to identify to genus without some study.  There are Cretaceous cat sharks.  Welton and Farish (1993) noted undescribed forms from as far back as the Albian in Texas and Ward (2010) discussed forms from the Albian of the United Kingdom..

 

Ward, D.J.  2010.

Sharks and Rays in Young, J.R., A.S. Gale, R.I. Knight and A.B. Smith (eds.).  Fossils of the Gault Clay.  The Palaeontological Association.  London. 342 pp.

 

Welton, B. and R. Farish.  1993.

 The Collector's Guide to Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas. Before Time, Texas. 204 pp.

 

 

I am getting the Welton and Farish book soon. Given my interest in Mesozoic sharks it seems required reading. I will take Scyliorhinidae as a possible ID on this one for sure. We have a couple that appear to be Cat Shark teeth and it is shark I really want to talk about so that works. Thank you Jess. I appreciate the help and information very much my friend.