Fossil Marine Reptile Tooth - Mosasaur Globidens скачать в хорошем качестве

Fossil Marine Reptile Tooth - Mosasaur Globidens

A mosasaur tooth from Globidens. Comparing Globidens, Carinodens, Igdamanosaurus and Xenodens teeth and how to identify fossil teeth. It’s Saturday, so time for another fossil. This time, not a dinosaur, though it is from the same time period. This is the tooth of a marine reptile, the Mosasaurid globidens. The Mosasaurids are pretty well known thanks to their appearance in Jurassic World. Globidens, is a more unusual specimen with more unusual teeth. You can see how it is more squat and circular in shape—not the sort of tooth you’d expect to see from a large marine predator. This is because Globidens ate a diet of shellfish—such as crabs and ammonites. And also turtles. These teeth are perfectly designed for crushing shells. This is a nice example of the tooth, but I damaged the tip when I dropped it—they typically have a small tip on the tooth. This tip can vary in size—here is an example of a tooth with tip. This tooth was found in the Ouled Abdoun Beds of Morocco. A very famous location for finding marine reptile fossils. There are a few globidensidi mosasaurs in this formation—Globidens, Igdamanosaurus, Carinodens and Xenodens. So let’s take a look at how to identify them. Globidens and Igdamanosaurus teeth are extremely similar, so are often both just sold together either under Globidens or Igdamanosaurus. Here is an image of a jaw from Igdamanosaurus—the teeth lack the tiny point on top, and are a bit less spherical in shape. Here is an image of a globidens jaw and teeth and Igdamanosaurus jaw side by side you can see the difference in teeth. Igdamanosaurus teeth also have a very faint carinae—this is a ridge on the crown, usually on the cutting edge of the tooth. Now, Carinodens teeth are much different. Here is an image of them—as you can see they are quite compressed, being much less round in shape compared to Globidens and Igdamanosaurus. Here they are side by side so you can see the difference. Here are the teeth of Xenodens—completely different from the others. Looking more like shark teeth than mosasaur. Plus, very, very small. These Mosasaurs are found from Morocco’s Ouled Abdoun Basin—a very famous fossil sight dating from the late cretaceous to the eocene. Sometimes just labeled by sellers as Khouribka. It is very famous for its wealth of marine fossils including fish, sharks, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. There are also a number of pterosaurs found there as well as very, very rare dinosaur and mammal remains. As for Globidens—it was around 6 meters in length with an appearance similar to other Mosasaurs—a streamlined body, flippers and a flattened tail. At least five Globidens species are known with the ones from Morocco being G phosphatcus and G. simplex. Now—pricing. Globidens and Igdamanosaurus teeth are extremely common and extremely cheap. You can pick them up for under $10. If buying one, I wouldn’t recommend paying more than $20. They are such common teeth. Carinodens however—much rarer. I have seen these go for around the 200 USD mark. Occaassionally, a little bit cheaper. Xenodens—the one with teeth similar to a shark. I have never seen for sale. It could be that because of their small size, they are dismissed as shark or fish teeth and just discarded. Plus, the species was only just described in 2021. So, that’s it for Globidens a very cool and unusual Mosasaur from Morocco. I will do another fossil video next week. Take care.