What are the hardest dinosaur teeth to obtain?

[Dracarys]

Hello all,

 

What is the hardest teeth to obtain nowadays? It seems to change based on the export restrictions from other countries and rarity. I’m trying to expand my collection and want to see what our the ones to chase after. Thanks in advance

[Vieira]

In my opinion the hardest teeth to obtain are those you don't have yet .

[Bobby Rico]

Also certain locations can add to making specimens harder to obtain.  Like it is not that hard to get a USA tyrannosaurs tooth but much harder to find a U.K. one.  

[Troodon]

Every dinosaur tooth beyond the common ones from Morocco and the Morisson, HC, JR and TM formations of North America are very difficult to obtain.  Even the uncommon teeth from the above localities are not easy to find and are often misidentified.  Best to focus on anything you dont have like Vieira indicated and slowly build your collection based on what is available.  The other roadblock you will encounter is identification.  You may find theropod teeth from different countries in south america or europe but few are identifiable to a genus/species, most are Morphtypes so are ID as an indeterminate theropod.   Be cautious of seller identifications most are clueless and slap names on them like your femur even on teeth from North America.  Good luck and its best to post here B4 you buy.

[caldigger]

2 hours ago, Vieira said:

In my opinion the hardest teeth to obtain are those you don't have yet .

...or want the most!  

[Bobby Rico]

13 minutes ago, caldigger said:

...or want the most!  

Stegosaurus 

[Troodon]

45 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

Stegosaurus 

Definitely in my 25 years of collecting only have two nice ones from the Morrison.  I am fortunate to have a few from Portugal,  Russia and one from France.

[Dracarys]

Thank you everyone. I guess the question is what is “your” wish list for teeth?! 

[Troodon]

8 minutes ago, Dracarys said:

Thank you everyone. I guess the question is what is “your” wish list for teeth?! 

Wish is to find a tooth that is not in my collection....will be happy with any since you cannot predict what is found or comes available.

[fossilsonwheels]

2 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Wish is to find a tooth that is not in my collection....will be happy with any since you cannot predict what is found or comes available.

I agree with @Troodon any tooth, any fossil that is not in my collection. 

[Troodon]

58 minutes ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I agree with @Troodon any tooth, any fossil that is not in my collection. 

I'll even go as far as saying it does not need to be a new genus/species but a positional variant works for me.  Crazy collector that I am

[Bobby Rico]

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

Definitely in my 25 years of collecting only have two nice ones from the Morrison.  I am fortunate to have a few from Portugal,  Russia and one from France.

That sounds like a good collection to me.

 

as they say I  live in hope. 

[-Andy-]

Based off my personal experience, Dilophosaurus, Carnotaurus, Acrocanthosaurus and Brachiosaurus teeth are crazy hard to get

[Bobby Rico]

2 hours ago, -Andy- said:

Dilophosaurus

Yes that’s second on my list. What a cool creature. 
 

sorry been Dyslexic I miss read this as Diplodocus that is second on my list.

 

cheers Bobby 

[Troodon]

I think wish lists need to be tempered with reality.  While its possible to obtain a Stegosaurus, Acro or Brachio tooth its highly unlikely to be able obtain a Dilophosaurus tooth and almost impossible to obtain a Carnotaurus tooth.  Why one needs to be happy with what the market gives you. 

[Abstraktum]

45 minutes ago, -Andy- said:

Based off my personal experience, Dilophosaurus, Carnotaurus, Acrocanthosaurus and Brachiosaurus teeth are crazy hard to 

 

As far as I understood, Carnotaurus is only known from a single fossil, that was found in 1984. Don't know of any other / new fossils from Carnotaurus.  

Are there legitimate isolated teeth from Carnotaurus out there? Not talking about legal issues with Argentinian fossils and if they are available at the market.

I was just wondering if there were ever isolated Carnotaurus teeth found.

 

 

[-Andy-]

13 minutes ago, Abstraktum said:

 

As far as I understood, Carnotaurus is only known from a single fossil, that was found in 1984. Don't know of any other / new fossils from Carnotaurus.  

Are there legitimate isolated teeth from Carnotaurus out there? Not talking about legal issues with Argentinian fossils and if they are available at the market.

I was just wondering if there were ever isolated Carnotaurus teeth found.

 

 

 

I have never seen any Carnotaurus tooth in any collection. It was once on my wish list to get, but now all I wish to see is a genuine one in someone's collection!

[Troodon]

The real problem with any dinosaur material from Argentina is provenance.  Lots of formations, clustered together where material passes through many hands and provenance is never really known or lost on its way to a collectors.    When it was legal to sell every larger theropod tooth was identified as Carnotaurus but it did not match the locality where it was described from and some it did not even match did the morphology of an Abelisaurid.  I dont think you can trust an identification of any Theropod tooth in private hands.

 

Skull was found with teeth

[Runner64]

1 hour ago, -Andy- said:

Based off my personal experience, Dilophosaurus, Carnotaurus, Acrocanthosaurus and Brachiosaurus teeth are crazy hard to get

With any of those requires a lot of perseverance and a lot of luck. I think brachiosaurus would be easiest to find (which is still very rare) followed by Acrocanthosaurus.

[Praefectus]

Giganotosaurus

 

 

I've never seen one. 

[Troodon]

19 minutes ago, Praefectus said:

Giganotosaurus

 

 

I've never seen one. 

not the best but this is the holotype

Looks like a Carcharodontosaurid tooth from the Kem Kem

[Praefectus]

Interesting holotype. I imagine it would be pretty hard to collect a giga tooth for a personal collection. 

 

Curiously, why are Dilophosaurus teeth so hard to collect? Are they just really rare?

[Bobby Rico]

Diplodocus is second on my list . Sorry my mistake .  

[Troodon]

1 hour ago, Praefectus said:

Interesting holotype. I imagine it would be pretty hard to collect a giga tooth for a personal collection. 

 

Curiously, why are Dilophosaurus teeth so hard to collect? Are they just really rare?

Yes even if you had a tooth with the morphology of a Carcharodontosaurid you could not verify that the provenance was that where Giga. are found.

Dilophosaurus is known from the Jurassic of Arizona the Kayenta Fm.  Not a lot of collectable exposures (deeded land) nor diggers looking for them.  Not a lot of material has been found.  

[fossilsonwheels]

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

I think wish lists need to be tempered with reality.  While its possible to obtain a Stegosaurus, Acro or Brachio tooth its highly unlikely to be able obtain a Dilophosaurus tooth and almost impossible to obtain a Carnotaurus tooth.  Why one needs to be happy with what the market gives you. 

Be happy with what the market gives you- exactly. It is nice and even necessary to have a want list but I agree with that philosophy. We have a small collection and there are still lots of "easy to find" fossils that elude us so our want list is still full of the not so rare lol. I am not concerned with rarity so much as interesting anyway.