Paraptychodus washitaensis, Lateral Tooth

Paraptychodus washitaensis, Lateral Tooth, North TX

Albian, Cretaceous

July, 2023

My best Paraptychodus in terms of root preservation. One of the most interesting features that distinguishes this genus from Ptychodus is the fact that the lingual sulcus and labial protuberance are absent from the crown. Instead, those characteristics are present within the root which is an ancestral condition that tells us a lot about their evolution. These specialized roots would interlock the teeth whereas later Ptychodontiformes had rather featureless roots that lost this function.