Pterosaur Jaw

[Robichello]

Hello,

I want to surprise you with one of the best pieces in my collection, a Pterosaur jaw recently arrived!

It come from Morocco (soon more details).

I would like to have your opinion about the species...

[Fossildude19]

It looks more robust than any pterosaur jaw I have ever seen.

Looks more fishy to me - kind of like Enchodus or Xiphactinus. Hmmmm.

Who ID'd it as pterosaur? The seller?

It is nice, whatever it is.

Regards,

Edited February 19, 2015 by Fossildude19

[Robichello]

It looks more robust than any pterosaur jaw I have ever seen.

Looks more fishy to me - kind of like Enchodus or Xiphactinus. Hmmmm.

Who ID'd it as pterosaur? The seller?

It is nice, whatever it is.

Regards,

Yes, was the seller who identify it as Pterosaur...

Anyway looking the single pterosaur teeth, mine looks similar, or I am wrong?

Edited February 19, 2015 by Robichello

[JohnJ]

It looks more robust than any pterosaur jaw I have ever seen.

Looks more fishy to me - kind of like Enchodus or Xiphactinus. Hmmmm.

Who ID'd it as pterosaur? The seller?

It is nice, whatever it is.

Regards,

Agreed. Looks like Xiphactinus to me. More.

[Troodon]

Agreed its one of those fishs with pterosaur teeth placed in the jaw.

[Fossildude19]

With Moroccan dealers, I wonder if what they are selling as pterosaur teeth are actually fish teeth?

I wouldn't be surprised.

Regards,

[Troodon]

They are masters deceiving people, anything's possible.

[Robichello]

If it is confirmed, I will surprise myself more than you!

[Troodon]

The attached image is not a pterosaur species from Morocco but what a typical jaw with teeth looks like. Sleek with a tapered snout.

[TheCounts]

Siroccopteryx moroccoensis?

[Al Dente]

I think it is a Cladocyclus jaw - http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/52396-vertebrae-jaw-kem-kem/?hl=xiphactinus#entry562869

[Troodon]

Looks identical now are the teeth real or placed. Since its all covered with matrix my guess continues to be they are placed in the jaw.

[JohnJ]

I think it is a Cladocyclus jaw - http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/52396-vertebrae-jaw-kem-kem/?hl=xiphactinus#entry562869

I think you nailed it, again, Eric.

[Fossildude19]

Link to the paper.

Regards,

[jpc]

Nice catch on the Cladocyclus.. I'm sold.

Nice jaw, by the way. Not a pterosaur, but nice fossil anyway.

Edited February 19, 2015 by jpc

[siteseer]

Tim,

There are smaller Kem Kem Beds specimens that have been tentatively identified as pterosaur teeth (Kellner and Mader, 1997). They discussed them this way, "Although far from conclusive...most consistent with the teeth of some pterosaurs, particularly the anhanguerids from the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation of northeastern Brazil."

Any small sharp tooth that is apparently not crocodile or dinosaur is going to be a candidate for a pterosaur among some dealers because fish teeth do not sell well. I have seen Anhanguera on many labels over the past few years even though the source quote could not be said to be more than tentative in the level of professional confidence in the identification. Some dealers will go with whatever name they can get because they know "undescribed" does not sell. That's why you see names for the little dinosaur teeth from there even though they have yet to be described as well. No one has found a skeleton nor even a skull with those teeth attached. Dinosaurs have been given names based only on isolated teeth in the past, but these days, researchers wait for at least a jaw or more substantial partial remains before proposing a name. Unfortunately, while the Kem Kem Beds have yielded a lot of isolated teeth and bones, they have not produced much in the way of associated remains.

At Tucson a couple of weeks ago, a paleontologist showed me a bone he bought from one of the dealers. He likes to go through flats of Kem Kem stuff to see if he can find anything weird. He considered it distinctly pterosaur.

Jess

Kellner, A.W and B.J. Mader. 1997.

Archosaur teeth from the Cretaceous of Morocco. Journal of Paleontology. 71 (3):525-327.

With Moroccan dealers, I wonder if what they are selling as pterosaur teeth are actually fish teeth?

I wouldn't be surprised.

Regards,

[Fossildude19]

Tim,

There are smaller Kem Kem Beds specimens that have been tentatively identified as pterosaur teeth (Kellner and Mader, 1997). They discussed them this way, "Although far from conclusive...most consistent with the teeth of some pterosaurs, particularly the anhanguerids from the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation of northeastern Brazil."

Any small sharp tooth that is apparently not crocodile or dinosaur is going to be a candidate for a pterosaur among some dealers because fish teeth do not sell well. I have seen Anhanguera on many labels over the past few years even though the source quote could not be said to be more than tentative in the level of professional confidence in the identification. Some dealers will go with whatever name they can get because they know "undescribed" does not sell. That's why you see names for the little dinosaur teeth from there even though they have yet to be described as well. No one has found a skeleton nor even a skull with those teeth attached. Dinosaurs have been given names based only on isolated teeth in the past, but these days, researchers wait for at least a jaw or more substantial partial remains before proposing a name. Unfortunately, while the Kem Kem Beds have yielded a lot of isolated teeth and bones, they have not produced much in the way of associated remains.

At Tucson a couple of weeks ago, a paleontologist showed me a bone he bought from one of the dealers. He likes to go through flats of Kem Kem stuff to see if he can find anything weird. He considered it distinctly pterosaur.

Jess

Kellner, A.W and B.J. Mader. 1997.

Archosaur teeth from the Cretaceous of Morocco. Journal of Paleontology. 71 (3):525-327.

Thanks Jess! I appreciate your taking the time to explain this. Makes perfect sense.

Regards,