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GRADE 10 BEAUTIFUL BLUE ARMORED DINOSAUR EUOPLOCEPHALUS TOOTH WITH ROOT Two Medicine Formation - Montana, U.S.A. LATE CRETACEOUS PERIOD (CAMPANIAN): 83 - 70 million years ago This is a FINEST GRADE complete and intact dinosaur tooth of the large armored ankylosaurid dinosaur Euoplocephalus found in the Two Medicine Formation, U.S.A.. If you want one amazing example that displays perfect preservation along with unusual beauty in its blue gray color, this is THE one to acquire. It is in original condition with a naturally lustrous mix of light and dark cool blue tones. Crown shows no feeding wear and the root is still attached. This is not a common spit tooth but was one of the primary teeth of a full-grown Euoplocephalus ankylosaur dinosaur that died with this specimen in its jaw evidenced by the unworn crown and root presence. You will not find a finer example than this. An important specimen if collecting the lineage of armored dinosaurs as Euoplocephalus was one of the largest of the ANKYLOSAURIDS. Not usually offered for sale as much as many other dinosaur teeth and fossils. This specimen has NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. Euoplocephalus was about 20 feet in length and weighed as much as 2 tons. Euoplocephalus was an ankylosaurid and had the classic tail club that this genera of dinosaurs is so popularly known for. This armored dinosaur was low and robust in build with a flat, thick triangular skull with large horns projecting out to the rear. Its body was covered in flexible bands of armor with even its eyelids armored in this manner! It body also featured short spiked dermal scutes and an array of spines down its back. The tail was large and muscular, strengthened with heavy tendons and terminating to a large bony club that could have been swung for defense against predators. The small teeth indicate it fed on fleshy, soft vegetation.
There were two sub-groups of the ankylosaurs. First the NODOSAURIDS appeared in the Middle Jurassic and survived into the Cretaceous. By the Early Cretaceous, the ANKYLOSAURIDS emerged and existed all the way to the end . The most notable difference between the two is that nodosaurs lacked horns on their head and a tail club while akylosaurs possessed both. Ankylosaurs include several different species spanning many world regions. Sizes range from 8 feet on up to 33 feet in length and weighing up to 2 tons. They all walked on four feet and were very slow in their locomotion. Ankylosaurs were herbivorous, ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs. They had toothless beaks and small leaf-shaped teeth that lined the sides of their jaws. The
most dominant characteristic of ankylosaurs is the presence of extensive
bony armor plating. Normally moveable portions of the skeleton
found in other dinosaurs were fused in ankylosaurs. Most
remarkable is the multiple layers of bone armor that covered the skull.
Even the eyelids of ankylosaurs were bone! With such an
impregnable design to the skull, it is likely that an ankylosaur could
have survived any attack to its head region. The most famous part of anatomy of the ankylosaurids is their heavy tail club made up of several heavy fused bones. Massive muscles and tendons provided strength and power to the wielding of this defensive mechanism against large therapods such as Tyrannosaurus rex. Without a tail club, the probable defense of nodosaurids was to hunker down and wait out an attack like a turtle, relying rather, on its spikes and armor for protection. Articulated ankylosaur remains are rarely found. Most ankylosaur fossils collected are isolated teeth and pieces of their bony armor. Ankylosaur remains have been found in North America, Europe, Australia, Antarctica, and Mongolia. STUNNING BLUE SPECIMEN IN COMPLETE CONDITION WITH ROOT - FINEST TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE FOR REFERENCE .45" long SOLD DT10-009 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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The
skeletal and armor design of an ANKYLOSAUR makes them the "walking
tanks" of prehistory. With an array of armor plates, knobs,
spikes, scales, multiple bone layers and in some, a tail club,
ankylosaurs relied on protection rather than speed to avoid falling
victim to the top predators of their time. 