Jaw with two teeth, cf. Goniopholididae

Jaw with two teeth, cf. Goniopholididae

Cenomanian

Texas

I initially assumed this jaw to be fish, but after failing to find any matching fish, I sent Mike Polcyn photos for his opinion too. He forwarded the photos to some colleagues who stopped their ID at reptelia indet. With the kickstarter of reptile, I got to work making comparisons to reptile micros from birds and crocs. Literature on both from the cenomanian is extremely absent, and most occurrences of cenomanian bird/croc teeth are just recorded but not described.

After ruling out bird, I gravitated to crocs. The wide fluting on my tooth compared to the typical fluting/striations on croc teeth (and the absence of carinae) made it hard to find good matches, but I eventually found some good fits with early cretaceous occurrences of isolated, undescribed Goniopholidid teeth from Spain and Wyoming.

Thus, final ID: Likely a juvenile Goniopholidid.

This makes in interesting addition to my awareness of the diversity in the Eagle Ford formation.