|
|
|
ULTRA RARE JUVENILE SMILODON FATALIS SABER CAT "MILK" FANG Withlacoochee River - Florida, U.S.A. MIDDLE (RANCHOLABREAN AGE) TO LATE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD: 300,000 to 10,000 years ago One of the rarest and most coveted fossil teeth we receive numerous requests for is for the "killing saber" from the king of the Saber-Toothed cats, SMILODON FATALIS. Unfortunately, the saber fang of these beasts is many times more rare than even T. rex teeth as their existence was short-lived and each cat only had two of these fangs. Despite our close proximity to an abundance of deposits Pleistocene mammalian fossils and constant communication with several full-time fossil hunters, a really nice quality killing saber still remains an elusive specimen. In addition, a fine grade large saber from a Smilodon cat would run into the many thousands of dollars should one ever become available. This highly unusual specimen provides for a very unique chance to acquire a complete saber killing fang from a juvenile Smilodon fatalis! Never before have we encountered such a rare saber-tooth. It is complete with NO DAMAGE, BREAKAGE OR RESTORATION. It is an extreme rarity to encounter such a tooth. This was one of the killing fangs of a young Smilodon fatalis and is considered a "milk fang". The baby cat would have been armed with a pair of these deadly fangs and as it matured, lost these two teeth to grow a larger and permanent set that would be serrated. The milk sabers are not serrated. Imagine a small Smilodon with a set of these large fangs protruding from its closed mouth! Even the baby cats surely were extremely dangerous. This tooth is perfect on both sides and has a portion of the root still attached. The enamel and grain is perfect and beautifully colored with tones ranging from light tapioca to the overall crown body to caramel and gold highlights. The tip is perfect, sharp and undamaged as is the entire tooth. It is safe to say we will likely never have such a specimen to offer again and at this price, certainly you couldn't touch a full-grown Smilodon killing saber of equal quality. This is the finest grade possible of this super rare fang you could expect. Truly an exotic and prized specimen to impress any advanced collector! Far, far more rare than a T. rex dinosaur tooth - you won't find another one like this, it is RARE!!! Guaranteed NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. This beauty is AS FOUND! Fossil cats can be grouped in two major classes based on the geometry of their upper fangs. The normal sized tooth cats have canines with round a cross-section and they are called CONICAL-TOOTHED cats. The saber-toothed cats are in a separate class and they also can be grouped in two further classes known as SCIMITAR-TOOTHED cats and DIRK-TOOTHED cats. The Scimitar-toothed cats have coarsely serrated fangs that are shorter and broader than the Dirk-toothed cats. Examples of Scimitar-toothed cats include Nimravides, Machairodus Xenosmilus and Dinobastis. The Dirk-toothed cats have much fangs that are much longer and narrower and may or may not have serrations. Examples of Dirk-toothed cats include Megantereon and Smilodon. The origin of Sabre-toothed cats is unknown but generally speaking, felids migrated to North America around 16 million years ago during the Miocene Period. In the European Lower Pleistocene, the panther-sized Megantereon was the dominant saber-toothed cat in the Mediterranean region from Africa to Asia. This species possibly reached North America via the Bering land bridge to later evolve into the large and powerful Smilodon. This massive saber cat weighed 600 to 800 pounds and measured 39 - 47 inches high! By the Upper Pleistocene, the largest of the Sabre-toothed cats, Smilodon, had appeared in North America. The last of the great predators (Smilodon and Dinobastis) succumbed to extinction in North America approximately 11,000 years ago. ULTRA RARE AND OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY POSSIBLE - ONE OF THE ULTIMATE FOSSIL TEETH TO OWN! 1.75" in length SOLD LM56-001 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
|
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER - NORTH FLORIDA, U.S.A.
|
|
1495 |
