Let's see your latest mailbox score - 2021!

[Yoda]

“Horse Tooth” Stromatolite 

Devonian 

Lower Flagstones Fomation

Orkney, Scotland 

 

 

[Kiros]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:43 PM, Kiros said:

Hello everyone, today I want to show you the last fossil I received and also the last of the year (I have to save for Christmas gifts). The fossil is a partial bear maxilla (with the first and second molar) from the Hipparion red clay (Upper Miocene) of the Linxia basin. Three different kinds of bear are known from this locality: Ursavus, Agriotherium and Indarctos. All three show very similar dental morphology but some characters allow us to distinguish them. First of all we can exclude Agriotherium in fact even if the teeth of my fossil have similar dimensions to this genus, the first upper molar of Agriotherium is more trapezoidal and the second molar does not have a talonid as well developed as in my fossil. The morphology of the two upper molars of Ursavus and Indarctos are much more similar but in Ursavus the second molar is less wide than the first molar while in Indarctos as in my fossil the two teeth have similar width. Another point in favor of Indarctos is the size of the teeth. The size of the teeth of my fossil are more than twice as large as the largest specimen of Ursavus while they fall within the range of values of Indarctos (although it is also one of the largest specimens of this genus, probably a large male). Another interesting thing is that the degree of wear of the molars is very high. Based on the dental wear we can therefore think that it was a fairly old specimen (15+ years old) and that it also suffered from caries, ouch (the hole on the second molar) . As for the species, Indarctos has from 2 to 5 species often based on singular individuals. It may be Indarctos zdanskyi or Indarctos Punjabensis (more probable) or maybe a new species, who knows

 

I'm sorry for the photos I'll try to take better ones in the future

some better photos of the teeth with scalebar

[LordTrilobite]

So, I got this Spinosaurus skull replica in the mail today...

 

It's a cast of that rather well known composite skull. We don't know a whole lot about that skull. So, I'm hoping I can find out more by studying this cast of the same specimen in detail. I'm already noticing a number of details. The frontal belongs to the high browed morph. The quadrates are too small for the braincase. The snout is partially collapsed, so that it looks more slender than it would have in life. It also seems like the drawing that Hendrickx made of the actual specimen, showing which parts are real and which are filled in, is probably quite accurate.

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

5 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

So, I got this Spinosaurus skull replica in the mail today...

 

It's a cast of that rather well known composite skull. We don't know a whole lot about that skull. So, I'm hoping I can find out more by studying this cast of the same specimen in detail. I'm already noticing a number of details. The frontal belongs to the high browed morph. The quadrates are too small for the braincase. The snout is partially collapsed, so that it looks more slender than it would have in life. It also seems like the drawing that Hendrickx made of the actual specimen, showing which parts are real and which are filled in, is probably quite accurate.

Woahhhh, that's awesome!

[Nanotyrannus35]

I just got this really cool hadrosaur jaw fragment from the mailbox formation!

[Randyw]

Not too exciting yet but i got in some bags of permian and cretacious matrix to search through….

[lesofprimus]

Came in the mail yesterday, my very first Raptor tooth from a Acheroraptor temertyorum dug up in the Hell Creek Formation... 

 

One of the smallest teeth in my collection but also one of the very best.

[Kiros]

13 hours ago, Randyw said:

Not too exciting yet but i got in some bags of permian and cretacious matrix to search through….

I envy you, you know how to spend the cold winter days! 

[skiman1016]

I started a collection of shark teeth from bone valley by purchasing these teeth below. My desire to start this collection came from a post someone did on this site where they showed off a tiger shark tooth in their collection with the tell-tale black crown and white root. So now I’m trying to build my own collection of teeth with the typical dark blue/gray/black crown and lighter color roots since I love the contrast between those specific colors. Next on my list is definitely a meg!

[lesofprimus]

Here's my previous mailbox score from 2 weeks ago, a 1.33" STOLOKROSUCHUS lapparenti tooth from Niger, with a photo of all three specimens in my collection....

[lesofprimus]

And about the same time, I scored this Kem Kem Halisaurus arambourgi Snout fossil from a collector in Norway...

 

One of my prize possessions. 

[gigantoraptor]

2 hours ago, lesofprimus said:

And about the same time, I scored this Kem Kem Halisaurus arambourgi Snout fossil from a collector in Norway...

I don't think this is from the Kem Kem, looks more like a piece from the Khouribga phosphate mines. Aside from Tethysaurus from the Akrabou formation, no mosasaurs are known from the Kem Kem.

Edited October 17, 2021 by gigantoraptor

[lesofprimus]

27 minutes ago, gigantoraptor said:

I don't think this is from the Kem Kem, looks more like a piece from the Khouribga phosphate mines. Aside from Tethysaurus from the Akrabou formation, no mosasaurs are known from the Kem Kem.

I believe you're correct, I sent a question to the fella I got it from...

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

So, this one came in a while ago already. But while it was obvious from the start that it's an ichthyosaur tooth, it took me a while to make sense of it due to its size and age. For the tooth measures a whopping 4.2cm, which rivals the biggest Temnodontosaurus platyodon teeth I've seen, yet has morphology/ornamentation more akin to Ichthyosaurus than to Temnodontosaurus. It's recorded age of "Lower Lias" moreover meant it had to be an early parvipelvian ichthyosaur, but didn't give me much more to go on...

 

 

The breakthrough came when I reviewed Pardo-Pérez et al.'s 2018 overview on pathologies in Temnodotosaurus-specimens from southern Germany, where I noticed that the illustrated specimen of T. nuertingensis has teeth of very similar morphology to my example, being tall, narrow, recurved, and with low plicidentine enamel ridges all around the circumference of the tooth. See the below image, modified after figure 4 from Pardo-Pérez et al. (2018), for comparison:

 

 

What's more, the article mentions the specimen dating to the Pliensbachian (a perfect match for "Lower Lias"), to which fossilworks adds that the type locality is - as should have been obvious from the specific name - Nürtingen in Baden-Württemberg, roughly 30 km from where my tooth is said to have been found, with the Paleobiology Database recording other Pliensbachian exposures in the interlying space. This, for me, was the final indication that my identification is correct, and that this tooth belongs to T. nuertingensis, an extremely rare temnodontosaur that has only been found at Nürtingen.

 

And just for a comparison, similar sized teeth of T. platyodon (left) and T. nuertingensis (right), with the more robust, polygonal and carinated tooth of T. platyodon clearly contrasting to the slender, conical and recurved tooth with enamel folds of T. nuertingensis:

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:41 PM, lesofprimus said:

 

I've seen this premaxilla as well. It's got very nice preservation for something that's been removed from matrix. Most of them are actually quite damaged, unless left in matrix. Would've loved adding this to my own collection, but had to let it go at the time. Glad to see it found a great new home!

 

But, yeah, this comes from the Moroccan phosphate mines, thus the Ouled Abdoun basin, likely Khouribga...

[lesofprimus]

Just received 2 x Miocene Dolphin teeth and a Pleistocene Alligator tooth yesterday... the Gator tooth is on the right and the two Dolphin teeth are in the middle.

[Kane]

A heavy package from Portugal, and its famous Valongo Fm.

 

A nicely sized (7.5 cm), laterally distorted asaphid (Isabelinia glabrata) and an accompanying negative of the phacopid Placoparia turneminei. 

Admittedly, I find it a challenge to discern Isabelinia from Nobiliasaphus. 

[ThePhysicist]

It was a long day, so it was nice to come home to a new T. rex tooth:

 

Tyrannosaurus rex

Hell Creek Fm., Fallon Co., MT, USA

15 mm CH, posterior position

 

 

 

[Yoda]

This arrived for me today: 

 

 

[Shellseeker]

Arrived yesterday from @siteseer,

It is always exciting and always great to deal with Jess.  This is my very 1st Squalodon tooth (not many of these in Florida) and it is outstanding.  Hard to believe the sharpness of the tip and has a Carina down the side.

I am working on reducing my collection but some items are irresistible. This will make a great display for a little while before the display becomes a Christmas present.  ( no supply chain issues here).

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 10/21/2021 at 5:11 PM, Yoda said:

This arrived for me today: 

Love these stromatolites you're getting. 

[lesofprimus]

19 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Arrived yesterday from @siteseer,

It is always exciting and always great to deal with Jess.  This is my very 1st Squalodon tooth (not many of these in Florida) and it is outstanding.  Hard to believe the sharpness of the tip and has a Carina down the side.

I am working on reducing my collection but some items are irresistible. This will make a great display for a little while before the display becomes a Christmas present.  ( no supply chain issues here).

That Squalodon tooth is truly amazing... very nice acquisition!

[lesofprimus]

Just got 2 packages today, which included the following:

 

A Miocene Dolphin Jaw

3 Champsosaurus Vertebrae 

A section of Elosuchus cherifiensis Skull

An Ischyrhiza Mira Rosal Barb

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

My first ever auction win! A lovely Cleoniceras from Madagascar! Very iridescent in person, but doesn't show up as much on camera. Chuffed to bits

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by IsaacTheFossilMan

[lesofprimus]

Just received 3 more fossils this morning, an 1.8" Sarcosuchus imperator tooth, an indent. Theropod claw from KemKem and an as yet identified Jurassic tooth, possibly Afrovenator abakensis, from Niger...