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  1. Updated March 29, 2023 Changed information on Avisaurus archibaldi A few years ago most of the smaller theropod teeth from the Hell Creek/Lance Formations were identified based on teeth from the Campanian assemblages of North America. Over the past couple of years new discoveries have shed new light on the theropods of the end of the cretaceous and new species have been described. I have addressed these on separate topics but decided to put all of these together to get a better view of the current picture of the upper Hell Creek and Lance formations. If you see any omissions or errors feel free to let me know. Tyrannosaurids: Under Topic: Identification Tyrannosaurid Teeth From North America - General Fossil Discussion - The Fossil Forum Dromaeosaurids: There are two described in the Hell Creek Acheroraptor temertyorum and Dakotaraptor steini however there is mounting evidence that an additional one, mid-size, is present. Saurornitholestes and Dromaeosaurus species are not present. Acheroraptor temertyorum Identification: Like all Dromaeosaurid teeth the denticles are key and different between those on the anterior and posterior carinae. You should easily be able to see that the posterior ones are much larger. If the denticles are identical its probably a juvenile Nanotyrannus tooth. Secondly there are apicobasal ridges on the crown which are diagnostic to this species. There can be several on either side and fewer on posterior located teeth. The teeth are recurved and typically under 1/2" (13mm) long. Dakotaraptor steini Identification: Zapsalis sp. (UPDATE) Identification: Similar to Z. abradens from the Judith River Formation. Very compresses tooth with rounded serrations on the distal side and a smooth mesial edge. One flat tooth surface with longitudinal ridges This form of tooth has been identified as a premaxillary tooth on Saurornitholestes in Alberta. So these teeth should most likely be assigned to Archoraptor but will need new discoveries to confirm it. Update: The unserrated form of this tooth (paronychodon morph) may also be a premaxillary tooth of a Dromaeosaurid or Troodontid. New discoveries are needed to properly assign it. Troodontids: There are at least two present cf Troodon formosus and Pectinodon bakkeri. but only one described Pectinodon bakkeri. cf T. formosus is an easily recognizable tooth. Denticles strongly hooked and turned toward the tip Pectinodon bakkeri significantly smaller 6mm or less than Troodon teeth. Comb like denticles on posterior carina, lacking on the anterior side.. Positionally these teeth have different morphologies can been see in the photo. Reference from : Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages by Sankey and Baszio Other Teeth: cf Paronychodon lacustris type teeth have several morph types are flat on one side and usually bear three or more longitudinal ridges. Another morp type can be seen in the image. The other side is convex and can be smooth or longitudinal ridges can be present as well.. This is a tooth taxon so placement is questioned by many. May be a Theropod or Pterosaur cf Richardoestesia gilmorei. These teeth may have two different morphologies and can include a long form whose serration density is very high. The information provided is the standard morphology. What is shown comes from the Larsen/Currie's paper. Data they used is from Longrich 2008. Taxonomic placement of these teeth is uncertain. Study included 33 teeth from the Lance & Hell Creek Formation - not all data was collected on these teeth CH Avg: 5.9 mm (Range 3.6 to 10) CBL Avg (14 teeth) 3.8 (Range 2.1 to 4.0) CBW Avg (14 teeth) 1.5 (Range 1.1 to 1.8) CBR: Avg (14 teeth) 0.40 CHR: Avg (33 teeth) 1.60 Density (16 Teeth) Distal: 6.75 (5/mm) or 1.4 mm. Mesial: 9.4 (5/mm) or 1.88 mm DSDI : 1.39 Other Characteristics - Rounded small denticles - Slight posterior recurve Photo Scale Bar : 1 mm References: Multivariate Analyses of Small Theropod Dinosaur Teeth and Implications for Paleoecological Turnover through Time Derek W. Larson, Philip J. Currie 2013 Longrich NR (2008) Small theropod teeth from the Lance Formation of Wyoming, USA. In: Sankey JT, Baszio S, editors. Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology Richardoestesia isoceles. Typically are very compressed, elongated and form an isosceles triangle. Fine serrations can be present This species along with the Paronychodon is currently under study and will most likely be described to a new taxon which may not be dinosaurian . Albertonykus sp. is known from bones. Its teeth are very small and pointed. Photo of tooth is from the smaller Mongolian species Mononychus olecranus Morph types isolated small theropod teeth are abundant in these assemblages. Morph types exist and determining the taxonomic affinities of these teeth is problematic. So be prepared to identify these teeth as Theropod indet. Note A lot of what I've described here requires a detailed examination of the serrations. The crisper they are on your tooth the better the opportunity you will have to identify them. having some magnification capability helps Bird: Avisaurus archibaldi This tooth is typically sold as A. archibaldi. Unfortunately this morphology of tooth is most likely Crocodilian per a recent publication, see attached topic. A slightly different morphology pointed out in the paper is viewed as most likely Avian
  2. I've recently found a, how do I say...quite unusual Theropod dinosaur tooth from the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation (67-66.0 Million Years ago). The paper, titled The occurrences of vertebrate fossils in the Deadhorse Coulee Member of the Milk River Formation and their implications for provincialism and evolution in the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of North America by Derek Williams Larson, is a record of theropod teeth from various Late Cretaceous formations in Western North America, and buried on page 244 of the report an apparent megalosauridae tooth (UCMP120305) from the Hell Creek Formation (67-66.0 Million Years ago). https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/54e305be-de2a-4529-adc9-4e6b038ae699/view/28ba15f8-8131-44be-b48f-e4e9648db26e/Larson_Derek_Fall_2010.pdf This for me is pretty unusual as Megalosauridae (as far as we know) lived only between the Middle-Late Jurassic (170-145 Million Years ago), millions of years before the Maastrichtian Cretaceous. I know in the past many theropod dinosaurs were described as species of "Megalosaurus", but that was more around the 1800-early 1900s and the citation for the tooth lists its apparent phylogenetic description as recently as 2008. There was also another less confusing but fascinating description of a Dromaeosauridae tooth (UALVP48462) from the Milk River Formation, which apparently has a tooth crown height of 17.3mm. But besides the pretty fascinating Milk River Dromeosauridae tooth, I'm puzzled about the UCMP120305 specimen! I really skeptical this tooth specimen belongs to megalosauridae. But if it's not, then where could the classification of the specimen have come from? What do you guys think?
  3. ThePhysicist

    Juvenile T. rex tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    Interesting blue color near the base, and some feeding wear at the tip of this immature Tyrannosaurid tooth.
  4. Hey all! When I went on a collecting trip in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, there were many iron concretions, and I've noticed that some specimens from there appear to be iron-stained. This makes me wonder if pyrite could be among the minerals involved in fossil preservation there. Are some of the bones found in the Hell Creek pyritized, and how could those be distinguished from others preserved differently? If so, do those Hell Creek specimens ever develop "pyrite disease," and what would be the warning signs to look out for? Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!
  5. ThePhysicist

    Pectinodon tooth

    Identification Troodontid teeth may be identified by their exaggerated, triangular, apically directed posterior denticles1. Pectinodon bakkeri is the only Troodontid species currently named from Lancian strata; its teeth are on average smaller and more gracile than those of its cousin, Troodon. Comments Pectinodon (meaning "comb-tooth")1 is a tooth taxon, since no remains attributable to the genus beyond teeth have been found. Pectinodon seems to be a rare member of the Hell Creek fauna, with their teeth being fairly uncommon. It was a small theropod, with teeth that couldn't handle stresses as well as their Dromaeosaurid and Tyrannosaurid relatives2. This coupled with their small size suggest that Pectinodon was a small/soft prey specialist, preferring the rodent-sized mammals of the time, lizards, insects, etc. Some researchers have proposed omnivory as a possibility for Troodontids (cf. Holtz et al. (1998))3. References 1. Carpenter, Kenneth. "Baby dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Lance and Hell Creek formations and a description of en new species of theropod." Contributions to Geology 20.2 (1982): 123-134. 2. Torices A, Wilkinson R, Arbour VM, Ruiz-Omeñaca JI, Currie PJ. "Puncture-and-Pull Biomechanics in the Teeth of Predatory Coelurosaurian Dinosaurs." Curr Biol. 2018 May 7;28(9):1467-1474.e2. 3. Holtz TR Jr, Brinkman DL, Chandler CL. "Denticle morphometrics and a possible omnivorous feeding habit for the theropod dinosaur Troodon." Gaia. 1998; 15: 159–166.
  6. Hello everyone, I recently finished preparing some ribs that I posted in the fossil preparation category and am having some trouble IDing them. One is fairly complete and the other 2 are fragments. They were found grouped together in Garfield County, Montana on a ranch. I think they resemble some Thescelosaurus ribs that I've seen in some papers but not enough to be confident in assigning an ID. Here are front and back views of each rib individually. I also found numerous bits of other bones in the jacket one of them being what I think is a carpal of something but haven't had time to do much digging. Here are some top and bottom views. I know you've said ribs are tricky to ID @Troodon but if you have any insight it would be very appreciated. Thank you all for your time and help.
  7. ThePhysicist

    Tyrannosaurid premaxillary tooth

    "That some of these teeth are mammalian incisors there can be but little doubt..." - O. C. Marsh1 This kind of incisor-like ("incisiform") tooth was originally thought to have belonged to a large, Cretaceous mammal. Later discoveries revealed that these teeth were actually the front teeth ("premaxillary teeth") of Tyrannosaurs - and are now known as a hallmark of their clade, Tyrannosauroidea (along with fused nasals). Closely-spaced, parallel grooves on bones suggest that Tyrannosaurs used these teeth to selectively scrape meat from bone2. Identification Tyrannosaurid premaxillary teeth have a "D"-shaped cross section, with the lingual face flattened, and often have an apicobasal ridge on the midline of the lingual face. In more technical language, "...premaxillary teeth bear lingually rotated mesial and distal carinae forming a salinon cross-section at mid-crown height, and a highly convex labial aspect as in tyrannosauroids generally. In mesial/distal views carinae are sinuous, transitioning from lingually convex near the base to lingually concave approaching the occlusal surface. Carinae terminate prior to reaching the root/crown juncture. Mesial and distal aspects of the crown are depressed, yielding a weakly hourglass-shaped cross-section at the crown base... The carinae lack serrations [likely ontogenetically variable]... As in other tyrannosauroids, teeth exhibit a pronounced lingual ridge"3. Most of the current literature supports only one Tyrannosaurid species in the Hell Creek formation, Tyrannosaurus rex, a hypothesis subject to change in light of new evidence. Comments This tooth has no discernible antemortem wear. The collector appears to have applied some preservative coating, giving the enamel a slightly sharper gloss. Given the size, this is from a very young animal (smaller than "Jane", BMRP 2002.4.1). References 1. Marsh, O.C., 1892, "Notes on Mesozoic vertebrate fossils", American Journal of Science, 44: 170-176 2. David W.E. Hone and Mahito Watabe, "New information on scavenging and selective feeding behaviour of tyrannosaurs", Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (4), 2010: 627-634 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2009.0133 3. Zanno, L., Tucker, R.T., Canoville, A. et al. Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the 70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record. Commun Biol 2, 64 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0308-7
  8. ThePhysicist

    Tyrannosaurid premaxillary tooth

    "That some of these teeth are mammalian incisors there can be but little doubt..." - O. C. Marsh1 This kind of incisor-like ("incisiform") tooth was originally thought to have belonged to a large, Cretaceous mammal. Later discoveries revealed that these teeth were actually the front teeth ("premaxillary teeth") of Tyrannosaurs - and are now known as a hallmark of their clade, Tyrannosauroidea (along with fused nasals). Closely-spaced, parallel grooves on bones suggest that Tyrannosaurs used these teeth to selectively scrape meat from bone2. Identification Tyrannosaurid premaxillary teeth have a "D"-shaped cross section, with the lingual face flattened, and often have an apicobasal ridge on the midline of the lingual face. In more technical language, "...premaxillary teeth bear lingually rotated mesial and distal carinae forming a salinon cross-section at mid-crown height, and a highly convex labial aspect as in tyrannosauroids generally. In mesial/distal views carinae are sinuous, transitioning from lingually convex near the base to lingually concave approaching the occlusal surface. Carinae terminate prior to reaching the root/crown juncture. Mesial and distal aspects of the crown are depressed, yielding a weakly hourglass-shaped cross-section at the crown base... The carinae lack serrations [likely ontogenetically variable]... As in other tyrannosauroids, teeth exhibit a pronounced lingual ridge"3. Most of the current literature supports only one Tyrannosaurid species in the Hell Creek formation, Tyrannosaurus rex, a hypothesis subject to change in light of new evidence. Comments This tooth exhibits some antemortem wear at the apex (pictured), on the carinae, and near the base of the lingual apicobasal ridge. Given the size, this is from a juvenile animal (smaller than "Jane", BMRP 2002.4.1). References 1. Marsh, O.C., 1892, "Notes on Mesozoic vertebrate fossils", American Journal of Science, 44: 170-176 2. David W.E. Hone and Mahito Watabe, "New information on scavenging and selective feeding behaviour of tyrannosaurs", Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (4), 2010: 627-634 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2009.0133 3. Zanno, L., Tucker, R.T., Canoville, A. et al. Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the 70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record. Commun Biol 2, 64 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0308-7
  9. ThePhysicist

    Ankylosaurus tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    One of my favorites as a kid - the archetypical Ankylosaurian - Ankylosaurus. Ankylosaurus teeth appear to be fairly uncommon in Hell Creek - some paleontologists have suggested that Ankylosaurus may have lived in the highlands or nearer the coast of Laramidia. Most "Ankylosaurus" teeth you see for sale are actually Nodosaurid (cf. Denversaurus), for whatever reason, they seem to be far more common. Ankylosaurus teeth also often have wear facets, as this one does. The denticles give their teeth a "leaf-like" appearance. Given their shorter stature, Ankylosaurians probably were low-browsers. This one was found by a rancher last year, and was rediscovered and prepped out of the matrix in October.
  10. ThePhysicist

    Tyrannosaur premaxillary tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    This kind of incisor-like ("incisorform") tooth was originally thought to have belonged to a large, Cretaceous mammal. Later discoveries revealed that these teeth were actually the front teeth ("premaxillary teeth") of Tyrannosaurs - and are now known as a hallmark of their clade, Tyrannosauroidea. Closely-spaced, parallel grooves on bones suggest that Tyrannosaurs used these teeth to scrape meat from bone. Given the size, this is from a very young animal. Should Nanotyrannus be valid, then this should be considered an indeterminate Tyrannosaurid.
  11. ThePhysicist

    Tyrannosaur premaxillary tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    This kind of incisor-like ("incisorform") tooth was originally thought to have belonged to a large, Cretaceous mammal. Later discoveries revealed that these teeth were actually the front teeth ("premaxillary teeth") of Tyrannosaurs - and are now known as a hallmark of their clade, Tyrannosauroidea. Closely-spaced, parallel grooves on bones suggest that Tyrannosaurs used these teeth to scrape meat from bone. Given the size, this is from a juvenile animal (smaller than "Jane"). Should Nanotyrannus be valid, then this should be considered an indeterminate Tyrannosaurid.
  12. ThePhysicist

    Pectinodon tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    Pectinodon (meaning "comb-tooth") is a tooth taxon, since no remains attributable to the genus beyond teeth have been found. Pectinodon seems to be a rare member of the Hell Creek fauna, with their teeth being fairly uncommon (though being so small, I'd guess that few people actively search for them). It was a small Troodontid theropod, with teeth that couldn't handle stresses as well as their Dromaeosaurid and Tyrannosaurid cousins (Torices et al. (2018)). This coupled with their small size suggest that Pectinodon was a small/soft prey specialist, preferring the rodent-sized mammals of the time, lizards, insects, etc. Some researchers have proposed omnivory as a possibility for Troodontids (cf. Holtz et al. (1998)). Troodontids famously are regarded as among the most intelligent dinosaurs for their large brain size / body size ratio. This notion serves as fodder for speculation that had the dinosaurs not gone extinct, Troodontids (Pectinodon being (one of?) the last) would have continued to grow in intelligence and develop sentience and civilizations. Troodontid teeth like Pectinodon can be easily identified by their small size, exaggerated, triangular, apically oriented posterior serrations.
  13. ThePhysicist

    Juvenile Tyrannosaur premaxillary teeth

    From the album: Dinosaurs

    These strange, incisor-like teeth were originally thought to have belonged to a large Cretaceous mammal. Later discoveries showed that these teeth matched the front teeth of young Tyrannosaurs quite well. Given closely spaced, parallel feeding traces on bones, these "incisorform" teeth likely were used to scrape meat from bone.
  14. ThePhysicist

    Ankylosaurus tooth

    From the album: Dinosaurs

    A rare tooth from the Hell Creek formation. Curiously most Ankylosaurian teeth you see online are actually Nodosaurid. This one is the Ankylosaurus.
  15. ThePhysicist

    Lightning strike trike

    From the album: Dinosaurs

    Plant roots often intrude upon a fossil's resting place, leaving behind white streaks when removed.
  16. I'll break my trip report to South Dakota into two parts. First will be my visit to the BHI followed by collecting adventure The purpose of going to the BHI was to pick up the Leptoceratops maxilla's I left during my June trip. Pete has been collecting and pulling together specimens to understand and possibly describe this ceratopsid in the Hell Creek. The material he's collected so far appears to be from an adult and is much smaller than L. gracilis. My maxilla's seem to fit the smaller morphotype. In addition, the BHI provided me two sets of replicas of my specimens, pretty cool. Tankankaceratops is a controversial ceratopsian described by Ott and Larsen 2010. It's a small Triceratopsini known from a partial skull. Pete showed me its occipital condyle which is fused and indicative of an adult. Very cool nasal horn core. Here is a close up of Struthiomimus sedens hand/part of arm... the business end. Good reference photos A new addition to the museum is a cast of a juvenile Tarbosaurus skeleton that was being assembled in June trip Here is some White River material that was recently collected. Think Pete said the top left skull was a rare Camelidae Hespercyon Took photos for reference of the metatarsals from Nanotyrannus Another reference bone a Nanotyrannus carpal bone, much longer than any found on T rex.
  17. ThePhysicist

    T. rex tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    It's remarkable that the minute features of this tooth can be preserved with such clarity after 66 million years!
  18. ThePhysicist

    Ankylosaurus tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    The denticles and enamel of this Ankylosaurus tooth are exceedingly well-preserved.
  19. I know next to nothing about radioactivity-- enough to know licking fossils is inadvisable, although I'll admit that wasn't terribly disappointing news. What I'm wondering is whether specimens not radioactive enough to endanger a person are capable of damaging other specimens. Is there a need to segregate displays here, or am I just confused about the mechanics of this? My specific reason for asking is that at the moment I'm planning for my current favorite mineral specimen (which I am babying forever), an almandine garnet from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, to share a small shelf area with a tooth from the phosphate deposits in Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco and a few dinosaur bone pieces from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana (one from Dawson County) and Lance Creek Formation of Niobrara County, Wyoming. The shelf is not enclosed, by the way. Thanks for your help!
  20. 'Hell fish' likely killed by dinosaur-ending asteroid is preserved in stunning detail Joanna Thompson, Live Science, October 12, 2022 Four exceptional fossils represent newly described species. https://www.livescience.com/3d-sturgeon-fossils-tanis The open access paper is: Hilton, E.J. and Grande, L., 2022. Late Cretaceous sturgeons (Acipenseridae) from North America, with two new species from the Tanis site in the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. Journal of Paleontology, pp.1-29. Another open access paper is: DePalma, R.A., Smit, J., Burnham, D.A., Kuiper, K., Manning, P.L., Oleinik, A., Larson, P., Maurrasse, F.J., Vellekoop, J., Richards, M.A. and Gurche, L., 2019. A seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(17), pp.8190-8199. Yours, Paul H.
  21. ThePhysicist

    Pectinodon tooth

    From the album: Hell Creek / Lance Formations

    Pectinodon (meaning "comb-tooth") is a tooth taxon, since no remains attributable to the genus beyond teeth have been found. Pectinodon seems to be a rare member of the Hell Creek fauna, with their teeth being fairly uncommon (though being so small, I'd guess that few people actively search for them). It was a small Troodontid theropod, with teeth that couldn't handle stresses as well as their Dromaeosaurid and Tyrannosaurid cousins (Torices et al. (2018)). This coupled with their small size suggest that Pectinodon was a small/soft prey specialist, preferring the rodent-sized mammals of the time, lizards, insects, etc. Some researchers have proposed omnivory as a possibility for Troodontids (cf. Holtz et al. (1998)). Troodontids famously are regarded as among the most intelligent dinosaurs for their large brain size / body size ratio. This notion serves as fodder for speculation that had the dinosaurs not gone extinct, Troodontids (Pectinodon being (one of?) the last) would have continued to grow in intelligence and develop sentience and civilizations. Troodontid teeth like Pectinodon can be easily identified by their small size, exaggerated, triangular, apically oriented posterior serrations.
  22. This is part two of my fall trip the first part was posted under trips to the museum Link Part one: Sept Dig Trip: Black Hills Institute - A Trip to the Museum - The Fossil Forum A short trip but like many enjoyed it, found some nice items and the weather was much better that what I saw in June. First let me share some photos of items collected in June that are finished. All Edmontosaurus annectens, Hell Creek Formation Skull element : quadrate 13.75" long Before: After to see its location Center Toe Bone Digit III -1, 5" Front to back Before After Chevron : 14.5" Long , second one in two seasons this size Before Getting there is half the fun SD 85 where I am is straight for miles and miles and miles. They could use some rain. Roadside store It's common to run into Cows crossing a pasture and they typically move but Horses that are stubborn and don't want to move, they are in charge Heavy horn works beautiful herd Love the mailboxes
  23. ThePhysicist

    Hell Creek Multituberculate

    Hi y'all, recently acquired this beautiful multituberculate. Total tooth height is 3 mm. Mesodma sp. P4? @jpc Cf. Mesodma sp. Hell Creek Fm., Garfield Co., MT, USA 3 mm
  24. FB003

    Tooth ID request - Dinosaur

    Hi all! Got another tooth here I'm looking for help on ID with. Only unfortunate thing is the exact county is unknown. Bought from an older collection so all the seller knew for sure is Hell Creek Formation. Seller has been very cooperative and is also very interested if an ID can be found with that little caveat. It was labeled dakotaraptor from the old collection. Initial thought was R. gilmorei or nano but doesn't look to have the defined nano pinch. No mesial serrations visible or can be felt. Best picture he could get of the serrations is below as well. Appreciate any input! Thanks!
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