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2.25 INCH LARGE ELASMOSAUR PLESIOSAUR TOOTH IN MATRIX Ganntour Basin Phosphate Deposits - Khouribga, Morocco CRETACEOUS PERIOD: 65 million years ago This is a fine grade fossil tooth in its original matrix from a type of plesiosaur called an elasmosaur. The tooth is still attached to the original matrix and prepared so that it can be displayed as such. Splendid coloration and fine wrinkled enamel detail is intact and well displayed. Tooth has been repaired but has NO RESTORATION or fabricated parts. An excellent specimen from a real-life sea monster of the prehistoric seas. Also in the matrix are fossil bones and coprolites, possibly Enchodus. Plesiosaur teeth are fragile unlike powerful meat-eating dinosaur teeth. They are dug from phosphate-bearing soil and in the process of their extraction, they are almost invariably broken and badly damaged. Finding a complete and high quality specimen is uncommon.
A typical plesiosaur had a long neck, a broad body, four large flippers and a relatively short tail. An apt description (of some forms at least) is of "a snake strung through a turtle". Plesiosaurs were one of the first kinds of extinct animal known to science, and were described as early as 1821. The smallest were about 2m long as adults, the largest were enormous pliosaurs up to 20m long, comparable in size or even bigger than sperm whales ( Physeter ). They were possibly the biggest predators of all time, though remains of these giants are rare and fragmentary, and much research remains to be done. We can learn about what they ate from the fossils. Occasionally stomach contents are found with well-preserved specimens, showing that some at least fed on belemnites and ammonites. Other specimens show bite marks from larger predatory forms. There is a wide range in tooth shape, showing that they were adapted to feeding on different types of prey. Long, slender teeth may have been used to rake through sea-floor sediments in the way a swan dabbles on pond bottoms. Larger, more robust teeth seem to be adapted for feeding on armored fish and cephalopods. Some of the bigger pliosaurs had enormous, dagger-like teeth which were used to attack their smaller relatives. A Plesiosaur used stones in it's stomach known as gastroliths. These made it possible for them to swallow their food whole, letting the gastrolith grind the food. The stones may also have served as ballast or weight for deep diving. BEAUTIFUL FINE QUALITY LARGE FOSSIL TOOTH IN ORIGINAL MATRIX! 4.2" x 3.5" overall on original matrix, tooth is 2.25" long $165 MV11-018 INCLUDES STAND Actual Item - One Only |
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Special thanks to FRANK DENOTA for permission to use his artwork above. |
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Plesiosaurs were aquatic reptiles, and were an important part of the
marine ecology from the end of the Triassic period 220 million years ago
until the end of the Cretaceous 65 million years ago. Their
remains have been found on every continent. The
plesiosaur are a large and varied group which have been broadly defined
as two distinct types, the long-necked, small-headed plesiosaurs and the
short-necked, large-headed pliosaurs.