DELTADROMEUS TOOTH

Tegana Formation of Kem Kem, Morocco

CRETACEOUS PERIOD:  99 - 93 million years ago

In a market where very few of these rare teeth are available and/or properly identified, it is remarkable to find such a specimen.  Preservation is excellent on this fantastic dark red example.  Super enamel and crisp serrations.  Only the slightest natural feeding wear to an otherwise sharper than usually seen tip.  Tooth has repair but entire tooth can boast of NO RESTORATION!  

WARNING:  MANY DEALERS ARE CURRENTLY SELLING SMALL (1" AND UNDER) UNIDENTIFIED DROMAEOSAUR TEETH OF MUCH LESSER VALUE AS DELTADROMEUS AGILIS TEETH.  NOT ONLY ARE THESE MISLABELED TEETH OF AN INCORRECT SIZE, THEY ARE ALSO INCORRECT IN THEIR DESIGN PROFILE FOR THIS TYPE OF DINOSAUR RULING THEM OUT EVEN AS "JUVENILE TEETH" AS ONE DEALER MISREPRESENTS THEM.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PALEONTOLOGIST TO UNDERSTAND THAT A 25 FOOT MEAT-EATING THERAPOD THE SIZE OF A JUVENILE T. REX DID NOT HAVE TEETH SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN A DIME!  

Discovered and identified in 1995 in southeast Morocco, Deltadromeus agilis was named for its amazingly delicate, long limbs and apparent high-speed mobility.  With the skeleton reconstructed, it is greater than 25 feet in length and is 8 feet high at the hip.  Estimated weight when the creature was alive is 3.5 to 4 tons.  Deltadromeus was a meat-eating dinosaur believed to be an early offshoot of the therapod line that led to the development of tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs ("raptors") in North America.   

Deltadromeus approaches the size of Tyrannosaurus yet, was a swift and agile hunter with a body profile and other characteristics similar to much smaller dromaeosaurs hence the nickname, "River Raptor".  Comparative analysis of its bones suggest it was akin to an enormous dromaeosaur of elongate design.  Deltadromeus was the "cheetah version" of its kind and built for incredible speed and stamina.

Fossil crocodile teeth, turtle shell, crayfish, petrified wood and many dinosaur footprints were found near the sites of the skeleton.  This is evidence that the now scorching Sahara Desert was once a vast flood plain laced with rivers edged by coniferous trees.  Crocodiles and turtles swam the rivers and predatory dinosaurs including Deltadromeus, ran through the mud leaving dozens of three-toed tracks that can now be found in the fossilized sedimentary rock in that region.

Remains of Deltadromeus agilis have only been found in the Tegana Formation of Kem Kem, Morocco and are extremely RARE.

BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN OF EXCELLENT QUALITY, PRESERVATION AND COLOR

1.75" long along the curve

$375     DT11-001     INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX     Actual Item - One Only

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Deltadromeus agilis by the very talented MINEO SHIRAISHI

Used with permission and copyright protected.

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