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CHOICE GRADE UNBROKEN TYRANNOSAURUS REX PRE-MAXILLARY TOOTH WITH SUPERB ENAMEL AND SERRATIONS Hell Creek Formation - South Dakota, U.S.A. LATE CRETACEOUS PERIOD: 68 - 65 million years ago Most TYRANNOSAURUS TEETH are usually quite ugly despite their steep prices reflecting their rarity and market demand. No type of dinosaur commands more respect and fascination than the members of the tyrannosaur family and a T. rex tooth or fossil seems to be at the top of every dinosaur fancier's list. Without question, fine quality teeth and bones of these dinosaurs will steadily appreciate year after year as limited legal collecting regions in the United States continue to be scavenged and produce less and less fine quality specimens. This is a RARE and exceptionally well-preserved fossil pre-maxillary tooth of a LARGE adult Tyrannosaurus rex. These teeth are the smaller teeth at the very front of the jaws of the dinosaur. At 2 inches, this would have come from the jaws of a huge T. rex that would have easily had over 5 inch crown lateral teeth! See below skull photos for the variance of sizes and the size of the pre-max teeth that are located at the front. These teeth are rare and only a few exist in each Tyrannosaurus rex. Since these are the very first teeth, they are most often subject to the more punishment and wear compared to all the other teeth in the jaws as the dinosaur first strikes its prey with its jaws and grabs its victims with these pre-maxillary teeth. Other than some natural feeding wear that occurred from numerous meals when this monster was alive, this is a pristine and colorful T. rex tooth that was found unbroken and is complete from the base to the intact tip. Serrations are very crisp and complete with virtually no feeding damage as seen above. Seldom do you encounter choice grade T. rex teeth that like this specimen that has NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. The enamel is a variation of rich brown with fine graining with no enamel peel or missing portions of enamel. The tooth looks even better in person!!! VERY Highly recommended and one of the most surefire investment fossils you could ever own! This is the NUMBER ONE dinosaur to have a tooth from and even the most hideous and plastic-filled teeth fetch strong prices. Speaking from extensive field experience searching for these fossils, it is a seldom occurrence in the life of a fossil hunter to discover a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth that is complete and fully intact with top preservation as this example is. A COMPLETE UNBROKEN specimen such as this, is SUPER RARE! Lately, we have seen a variety of sellers offering Nanotyrannus teeth from the same formation (which are more laterally compressed and less robust than T. rex teeth), and even Carcharodontosaurus teeth from Morocco, as Tyrannosaurus rex teeth. See above photos to help to identify what to look for in REAL T. rex teeth. The difference in value and price is SUBSTANTIAL between these different theropod teeth so emphasis should be not only on the existence of repair or restoration but on accurate identification, as well. A photo above of this tooth offered here shows the edge view with classic D profile and offset serration line as well as a more robust cross-sectional profile compared to Nanotyrannus. An equal-sized Nanotyrannus tooth would sell for a TENTH OR LESS of the price of a T. rex tooth of the SAME length! Whether it be ignorance or deceit, we have seen numerous instances of Nanotyrannus teeth being sold online as T. rex! See below photo.
WARNING: The staff of Paleo Direct is fully experienced and regularly performs all phases of fossil repair and restoration on their premises where needed. This work is always disclosed on our website voluntarily, and can be found in the text of the fossils we offer. Caveat emptor when it comes to dealers that buy already prepared specimens because there is a great tendency to stretch the truth when it comes to completeness and authenticity as the financial rewards ARE VERY HIGH on fossils from this dinosaur, ESPECIALLY! This is a very important issue in the fossil business as most fossils have some repair and/or restoration. Purchasing specimens FROM THE ACTUAL PERSON OR PERSONS DOING THE PREPARATION WORK is VITAL for you the buyer, to know what you are getting. Buying rare fossils from a seller that just goes to a show or broker, buying from someone else who simply echoes what they were told is the best way to get a mystery fossil with no recourse to determine as to what kind of work has been done. This kind of rampant misrepresentation in the fossil market is one of the key arguments the science community uses to discourage buying fossils in the first place! To be sure that what you are buying is accurately and honestly represented, only deal with a highly experienced professional who is actively engaged in, as well as has first-hand knowledge AND experience with regard to fossil preparation, repair and restoration. Equally important is a complete understanding of the anatomy of the specimen and animal at hand.
TYRANNOSAURUS REX grew to up 46 feet long, 20 feet high at the hips and weighed 5 to 7 tons. Despite some claims as to this beast being a clumsy scavenger, the undeniable facts about T. rex's anatomy indicate quite the opposite. This enormous killer was built to HUNT. It had amazing senses for smelling (based on braincase studies and enlarged lobes for this sense) but more importantly, Tyrannosaurus rex was HIGHLY DEVELOPED for seeing - something you do not need when all you "chase" after is a non-moving, dead animal. The massive five foot skull had 4 inch diameter eye sockets that would have held a 3 inch diameter eyeball. T. rex possessed large lobes in its brain for vision that processed complex sight information. T. rex also had a unique head compared to most predatory dinosaurs with both eyes facing forward on the front of its skull. This allowed ideal depth perception - best needed for stalking and hunting LIVE, running prey. While other predatory dinosaurs possessed depth perception, it would not have been as developed as T. rex because of this feature. Plant-eating dinosaurs have their eyes located on the sides of their heads which allows them to WATCH FOR PREDATORS from all directions, something T. rex never needed since it was THE king of predators and had NO equal in its region. The jaws
of a Tyrannosaurus rex were up to 4 feet long. Each dinosaur
possessed approximately 50 to 60 robust, conical teeth that ranged in
size from an inch to over 9 inches long. These teeth were rounder
in cross-section
Clearly, the sheer robustness of Tyrannosaurus rex required enormous amounts of protein to sustain such body mass. True scavengers tend to be lean with wiry, lighter bodies able to function better between the discovery of carcasses in the wild. Active predators will usually scavenge a carcass as a 'target of opportunity' which T. rex most probably did, but the mighty design of T. rex would have been both - 1) unnecessary up against prey that is not alive to fight back and, 2) of a body mass difficult to sustain over the lifetime of the beast on the availability of carrion, alone. Fossil remains of T. rex represent the pinnacle of dinosaur fossil collections and exhibits the world over. Their universal appeal and rarity compared to ever-increasing market demand put fine quality Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the forefront of highly promising INVESTMENT FOSSILS. AMAZINGLY RARE CONDITION AND COMPLETENESS - MOST PROMISING INVESTMENT OF ANY FOSSIL, PERIOD! 2" long on the leading edge SOLD DT18-047 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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HELL CREEK FORMATION, U.S.A. |
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3495 |
The name
TYRANNOSAURUS REX is synonymous with sheer terror. Just mention
the name and almost anyone, regardless of how much or little they know
about paleontology, will recognize the "Tyrant Lizard King". Long
thought to be the largest meat-eating dinosaur that ever lived, it has
been recently discovered that 
than
most other predatory dinosaurs' teeth which enabled T. rex's teeth to
better stand up to crushing bone. Conical teeth can also best
sustain the impact force of hitting the body of its prey when attacking
and holding struggling prey prior to the kill. Like many
predatory dinosaurs, an adult T. rex had a range of lengths of teeth in
its jaws at any time. Teeth were constantly emerging and replacing
damaged or worn ones. 
