ID: Theropod indet. Judith River Fm.

[JoeS]

Hi all, I recently acquired this Theropod indet. tooth speculating it might be a Dromaeosaurus albertensis. It was found in the Judith River Fm., is 0.72 inch long and serration count over 5mm is 20 mesial and 18 distal. It is a very stout tooth, so might as well be a Tyrannosaurid. It has a twist in the mesial carina and though denticles are very close in width, mesial ones are shorter, and the shape of denticles does not look classic Tyrannosaurid to me. I would like hear your opinions please.
 

[LordTrilobite]

Whatever it is it's a beautiful tooth.

 

@Troodon will likely know more.

[ClearLake]

I dont' know anything about the ID, I just wanted to tell you the photography of the tooth and its detail is beautiful.  I see a lot of these posts asking for ID's and this is one of the nicer jobs of showing the important features (or at least what I believe I have learned are the important features).  Someone will be along shortly to actually help you, I'm sure. 

[Troodon]

Absolutely gorgeous tooth a super addition to your collection.   The photos are some of the best I've seen to aid in identification thanks.  Hopefully others can learn from them.

 

The tooth is a Tyrannosaurid.    The mesial side lacks the twist from the tip to the base.  There is a slight twist of the carina at the base very typical of Tyrannosaurid teeth with Y serrations although this tooth lacks the other leg.  The denticles are consistent with tyrannosaurid.  

 

Congrat a very nice tooth and beautiful color typical of what you would expect from the JR.

[GeschWhat]

I know it has already been said, but your photography is superb! 

[JoeS]

1 hour ago, LordTrilobite said:

Whatever it is it's a beautiful tooth.

 

@Troodon will likely know more.

 

28 minutes ago, ClearLake said:

I dont' know anything about the ID, I just wanted to tell you the photography of the tooth and its detail is beautiful.  I see a lot of these posts asking for ID's and this is one of the nicer jobs of showing the important features (or at least what I believe I have learned are the important features).  Someone will be along shortly to actually help you, I'm sure. 

 

12 minutes ago, GeschWhat said:

I know it has already been said, but your photography is superb! 

Thank you - very kind.

 

[JoeS]

25 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Absolutely gorgeous tooth a super addition to your collection.   The photos are some of the best I've seen to aid in identification thanks.  Hopefully others can learn from them.

 

The tooth is a Tyrannosaurid.    The mesial side lacks the twist from the tip to the base.  There is a slight twist of the carina at the base very typical of Tyrannosaurid teeth with Y serrations although this tooth lacks the other leg.  The denticles are consistent with tyrannosaurid.  

 

Congrat a very nice tooth and beautiful color typical of what you would expect from the JR.

 

I see, thought the denticles are not that box shaped   Something learned - thank you so much!

[Troodon]

You have to consider all of the characteristics of the tooth.    The fist step was did it meet the overall profile of a Dromaeosaurus tooth which shows a lingual twist from the tip to the base.  It did not but if it did  then you can look at serration density and shape.

 

[JoeS]

agreed, the tiny twist at the end of the carina did fool me, thank you for your help as always.

[ThePhysicist]

That is probably the most gorgeous tooth I've ever seen!  

[JoeS]

5 hours ago, ThePhysicist said:

That is probably the most gorgeous tooth I've ever seen!  

Yeah, very nice one for sure! Unfortunately not a species I was looking for, so I made another collector happy passing it on