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LARGE CETIOSAUR SAUROPOD TOOTH - Tegana Formation - Kem Kem, Morocco EARLY CRETACEOUS PERIOD: 145 - 112 million years ago In dinosaur teeth, sauropod teeth are rarely discovered in the same fine condition as therapod teeth. Unlike meat-eating therapods that needed strong teeth to endure the force of attacking prey and tearing flesh, sauropods were herbivorous and simply stripped branches of vegetation. Their teeth lacked the same structural strength as therapod teeth. Because of this, finding intact high-grade fossilized sauropod teeth is more difficult than fine quality fossil therapod dinosaur teeth. This specimen
is unlike most and has an unworn pointed tip. It came from a cetiosaur sauropod dinosaur
that once roamed what is now the Sahara Desert in North Africa. This
nice example is
WITH NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION,
very rare for these teeth. This is a classic pencil-shaped tooth
of large size. Fine quality dinosaur teeth from this massive
plant-eating monster are less common compared to fragmented examples.
Cetiosaur was enormous. It's neck and tail were shorter than many other sauropods. It's weight is estimated at well over 10 tons. From tail to head, this monster grew up to 60 ft/18.3 m long. Cetiosaur was an herbivore, or plant-eater. The teeth of the Cetiosaur were long and rod-shaped, designed for raking and stripping leaves and foliage from tree branches. The Cetiosaur did not chew it's food, instead it swallowed it whole. Once inside the huge stomach, gastroliths (stones swallowed by the dinosaur that remained in the stomach) would grind up the plants into a digestible form. A possible relative sauropod Jobaria, was recently discovered in 1997 in the Sahara Desert in Niger. One specimen was an amazing 95 percent complete making it one of the most complete sauropods ever found. Studies of the skeletal structure have led some scientists to theorize that these giant dinosaurs could stand on their hind legs despite their weight and size, and reach tall treetops for food where no other herbivore could reach. With such enormous size, Cetiosaur must have spent the majority of it's life feeding it's never-ending appetite. Cetiosaur remains have been found in England and Morocco. NICE LARGE TOOTH WITH ATYPICAL UNWORN POINTED TIP! 1.9" long SOLD DT9-013 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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The
Cetiosaur was the first sauropod to ever be discovered in the
world. In 1841, huge bones were found in southern England, 32
years before anyone had ever heard of "dinosaurs".
People thought the bones belonged to some great marine animal, hence the
name "Cetiosaurus", or "whale-lizard". Later,
a similar sauropod was found in the Late Jurassic rock of Colorado in
western North America. It was then that scientists began to appreciate the magnitude
of this massive beast.
In
1979, a skeleton of a Cetiosaur was unearthed in Morocco. The
animal's thigh bone measured over 6 ft/1.8 m long and one of the
shoulder blades measured over 5 ft/1.5 m long.