What kind of Tyrannosaurid tooth ?

[Brevicollis]

Hello, I came across this affordable Tyrannosaurid tooth from the Judith River formation, hill county, Montana, and wondered if there is a chance for it beeing a small Rex. Its 2,5 cm or 0,99 inches long, has a quite used tip, and appears to be quite thick for its sice. Im also not seeing the typical Nano pinch at the base, but maybe thats because the picture taken from it is angeled.

 

@hadrosauridae, @ThePhysicist, can you help here, please ?

 

Edited Monday at 08:28 PM by Brevicollis

[Kikokuryu]

Do you suspect the locale it incorrect? Because the Judith River Formation is too old to contain T. rex and currently only contains Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus.

 

There are no Nanotyrannus morphs in the Campanian deposits as far as I'm aware of.

 

Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus are both true tyrannosaurids like Tyrannosaurus so it's not surprising their teeth, especially smaller teeth are generic to the clade.

 

If you don't know if a tooth is from the Hell Creek/Lance or Judith River/Two Medicine/Aguja, it can be impossible to determine what you have unless it's the iconic robust teeth of an adult T. rex.

 

Nanotyrannus teeth seem to be unique and exclusive to the Maastrichtian deposits, but smaller tyrannosaurid teeth between Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus can be difficult, if not impossible in many cases if locales get jumbled up.

[hadrosauridae]

Sorry, JR is not my playground so I havent spent time studying the fauna from there.  

[ThePhysicist]

It's an indeterminate tyrannosaurid. @Kikokuryu is right, T. rex hasn't been described from the JRF. Though, the genus Tyrannosaurus has recently been described in the latest Campanian of New Mexico.

 

At the risk of repeating myself, ziphodont "nano-morph" teeth are an established feature in all juvenile tyrannosaurids we know of, they aren't unique to Nanotyrannus. 

Edited Tuesday at 04:57 AM by ThePhysicist

[Brevicollis]

6 hours ago, Kikokuryu said:

Do you suspect the locale it incorrect?

No. I was just wondering, what kind of tooth that is, and didnt knew, that the JRF is to old to contain Rex fossils.

 

I also think, that the formation is correct. 

Edited Tuesday at 04:32 AM by Brevicollis

[North]

Worth of noticing.

Some sellers advertice teeth from Judith river as Tyrannosaurus, which is uncorrect. So its good to check that locality is correct and what fauna was present.