truceburner Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 When I reached into the creek for this strangely shaped rock I had no idea what I was picking up. It just looked interesting. Closer inspection revealed what looks to my admittedly untrained eye to be a broken tooth in a big ol' socket, similar in size to the semi-circles on either end of the stone, which I now take to be sockets themselves. Then I noticed the unerupted(?) tooth along one side. The whole piece is ~6cm long, 3.5cm wide, and 4.5cm high. The complete tooth socket is just over 2cm at it's widest. Is that indeed an unerupted tooth? This must have been a pretty big beast with a jaw this robust. What do you think? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I think your ID is spot on. That was a BIG boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Way to go! That's a monster indeed. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truceburner Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thanks! I wonder what this jaw looked like coming out of the matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullStrong Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 (edited) Without knowing anything about where this fossil was found, i'll hazard a guess. The spacing between the sockets, the shape and size of the sockets, along with the unerupted tooth, sure reminds me of a whale jaw segment. The unerupted tooth is very similar to vestigial teeth found in modern sperm whales that never erupt. Edited June 2, 2013 by BullStrong “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum" Descartes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truceburner Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Hi Bullstrong. This piece was washed into a stream environment in Austin, TX. It's likely Cretaceous Ozan material, in which case it would predate whale evolution by a bit. The mineralization looks very similar to the Mosasaur material I find around here. My thought is that this is perhaps Tylosaurus or one of the other big Mosasaurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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