Frank Menser Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Just picked up this right side of 16" Maxilla. Not sure how much of the whole side I have. Can anyone tell me how many teeth are in one side of a Mosasaur Maxilla? Not sure if it's Platycarpus. Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 How sure are you that they are both from the same maxilla? I ask because the longer one seems more or less complete. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 The pieces fit together perfectly... Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 well from what I can see is the longer one might be a Clidastes, a few more close up pics might help. However the one on the left is certainly from a platecarpus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 Here's a couple of closer shots with the bone sections properly fitted together. The dealer expressed doubts about it being Platycarpus but the bones all belong to the same maxilla. Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 ok Frank, thanks for the better pictures it helps a lot. I'm sure now they are from a Platecarpus. However, the Maxillas do not fit together even though they seem to. Reason being is you are missing the premaxilla which would fit between the two. Never the less its a fantastic purchase and a centerpiece for any collection, Congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 ok Frank, thanks for the better pictures it helps a lot. I'm sure now they are from a Platecarpus. However, the Maxillas do not fit together even though they seem to. Reason being is you are missing the premaxilla which would fit between the two. Never the less its a fantastic purchase and a centerpiece for any collection, Congrats. Well demonstrated, Platecarpus. Frank, since you've shifted part of the focus in your collection to Mosasaurs, you cannot do without Systematics and Morphology of American Mosasaurs by Dale A. Russell. It helps me keep my bones straight... The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 I talked with the guy these came from and he could not positively confirm that all parts are from the same animal (he bought them from the collector). He also said some parts were stained to even out the color. I appreciate what you are saying here but I have a question...all the parts shown belong to the right upper muzzle None of it is left sided which means the premax on the nose end would not effect the conection of the two larger parts (2 and 3 going left to right)-unless despite the rough ends fitting well together the big part on the end is from a different animal? That's why I asked how many teeth are onone side. Parts 1 and 2 fit together too perfectly (the breaks match seamlessly) despite the color difference (probable staining) for there to be any doubt they are related. I have done enough vert prep work to confirm that. Am adding the book to my aquisition list. Thanks Sorry to ask what might be dumb questions but photos and long distance make for probs in communication. Wish y'all were near so we could go over these bones over a couple of beers. Thankyou for your help... Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 ...Wish y'all were near so we could go over these bones over a couple of beers. You buyin'? I'll be right down! (Not that I know squat about these marine monitors) "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) Frank, I appreciate your experience, but please take a look at one of the maxillas I've found. I think you can see the common features. This one is just a little over 5 inches long, and it is compares well with a Plioplatecarpus sp. right maxilla. The only bone that makes contact with the right end is the premaxilla (see Platecarpus' photo above). This is the proper orientation of your maxillaries. Great specimens. Oh, and thanks for the offer.... Edited December 7, 2009 by JohnJ The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 oh thats sweet Frankk...................me likes:D! In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Thanks JohnJ, I have collected for a number of years on and off in the chalk and have had goo luck when it comes to finding mosasaurs so they tend to be rather familiar to me. Frank, I'm positive that you are looking at both left and right Maxillas there. The color difference has to do with fossil that are closer to the surface or exposed. They tend to be dark brown unless they start to get exposed then they turn white. So the color difference most likely has to do with what was more exposed. To give you an idea of how they fit let me show you one of the skulls I found a couple years back that well... I have not had time to finish prepping but it’s exposed enough for you to tell what you are looking at. As you can see most fossil from the Smokey hill chalk member are compressed, the right Maxilla has detached and started to by exposed (has started to turn white.) The Premaxilla is partially moved out of place with the left Maxilla still articulated. Sorry about the string I started to work on a grid and I had yet to set in place tightly and precisely and is kind of in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 What a beautiful skull!!!! I am sooooo green with envy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 ooohhh, that's beautiful! x-man, you look stunning in green! (see folks, this is the essence of humoressence. you set everybody up thinking you're talking about one thing, like a mosasaur skull, which, by the way, is very nice - and then you reveal that you're actually talking about a guy who's named himself after an extinct fish, who, by the way, is probably also very nice.) it's monday. nice mosey!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Ok..sp what youare saying is that these two parts fit like this with the premax between? Ok, Next question is where does this little part enter the equasion? Here's all the large parts together (the dark one was stained and may belong to a different animal As for the beers...I buy of course. And Chas...you just want to see my bird bones! But we'll give you a beer too! Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 You're on the right track, now. As for the "little part", it could be the back end of a dentary, maxilla, or pterygoid...hard to tell from the pics (and my lack of expertise). The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 You're on the right track, now. As for the "little part", it could be the back end of a dentary, maxilla, or pterygoid...hard to tell from the pics (and my lack of expertise). I don't think that little part is part of a pterygoid. The teeth on the pterygoid usually curve back. Those are straight to curving out. Since you have mostly maxilla there, I would venture that you have a piece a little farther back on the right max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 I don't think that little part is part of a pterygoid. The teeth on the pterygoid usually curve back. Those are straight to curving out. Since you have mostly maxilla there, I would venture that you have a piece a little farther back on the right max. I was wondering the same, X-man; especially given some of the other fragments that might make up part of the connection. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Thanks This of course is very different from the way they were displayed in the FOR SALE photos. Y'all have helped a lot-especially the photos. Of course, my wife says I should have stuck with Lincoln Logs Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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