skull ID?

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

11 hours ago, Slow Walker said:

Here is close up of the tip and middle of the snout. Also both eye sockets. The teeth were broken during weathering. The skull was found upside down in situ. I don't think there's anything diagnostic in the photos. 

 

 

 

I don't agree with the skull being undiagnostic. For one, the premaxilla seems rather broad for a mosasaur. More importantly, however, the jaws seem to have alveoli - in other words, socketed teeth - something mosasaurs do not have. At least not in the same way mammals and crocodiles do. These jaw fragment appear to preserve a clean and level jaw-line, something not seen in mosasaurs (read more on mosasaur tooth attachment here). So my vote would be crocodile, having seen these pieces.

 

@Praefectus, what do you think?

[Sjfriend]

I would absolutely have a professional prepped have a look at it. There seems to be plenty to work with to make it show.

[jpc]

These Pierre Shale bones can be such a mess.  

I disrespectfully disagree with pachy etc.  Crocs are unknown from the Pierre Shale.  Look at the tooth circled in blue here.  I see a cross section of a broken off tooth, and its pedicle... is that the right word?  Where the base of the tooth joins the jaw.  I see a mosasaur here. 

 

One thing about this Pierre Shale, non concretionary material, is that, even in the hands of the best preparators, some of them never come out nice.  They tend to be incrusted and infused with selenite.  Which I do not see on this one, so this one has hope of being professionally prepped.  feel free to PM me if you think you might want to go that direction.     

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

8 hours ago, jpc said:

I disrespectfully disagree with pachy etc.  Crocs are unknown from the Pierre Shale.  Look at the tooth circled in blue here.  I see a cross section of a broken off tooth, and its pedicle... is that the right word?  Where the base of the tooth joins the jaw.  I see a mosasaur here.

 

Don't you mean you "respectfully" disagree? 😂

In any case, I agree that crocodiles haven't previously been recorded from the Pierre Shale, and would indeed be unlikely. I am, however, just calling them as I see them in this particular case, in hopes of others chiming in with their observations or by countering my observations - as you just did. At the same time, I think you intended to upload a figure that's not attached. I'd be very interested in seeing what you've picked up on...

 

8 hours ago, jpc said:

One thing about this Pierre Shale, non concretionary material, is that, even in the hands of the best preparators, some of them never come out nice.  They tend to be incrusted and infused with selenite.  Which I do not see on this one, so this one has hope of being professionally prepped.

 

Either way, I fully agree with this statement 😉

[Jaybot]

19 hours ago, jpc said:

disrespectfully disagree

Autocorrect Strikes Again! 

 

[Praefectus]

On 5/7/2024 at 5:23 AM, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

@Praefectus, what do you think?

I'd like to see it prepped more before making a call. I'm not seeing any features that really stand out. 

[Slow Walker]

So much great info and tips. thanks! 

I might do some more prep on it if I get time. I didn't want to sink too much time or money into something when I might find something better as I've only been doing fossils for 2 years. I thought the teeth might be diagnostic but I guess I have much to learn. 

[Jaybot]

3 hours ago, Slow Walker said:

So much great info and tips. thanks! 

I might do some more prep on it if I get time. I didn't want to sink too much time or money into something when I might find something better as I've only been doing fossils for 2 years. I thought the teeth might be diagnostic but I guess I have much to learn. 

This is a pretty awesome find- more significant than you think possibly.  Have fun prepping!  If you don't mind, please update us once your finished

I personally am very interested to see what this ends up being.

 

Have a great day,

[rocket]

in deed..., preservation is poor, but its part of a skull and worth to prep. Looks like Mosa

Do as @Jaybot mentioned, if you cannot prep yourself give it to a professional preparator

[jpc]

disrespectfully disagree... that is one of my better ones.  Indeed, I meant respectfully disagree.