A VERY LARGE TOOTH OF DASPLETOSAURUS. ...

Description

A VERY LARGE TOOTH OF DASPLETOSAURUS
Daspletosaurus n. sp.
Late Cretaceous - Campanian Age
70.6-83.5 million years old
Two Medicine Formation, Near Choteau, Montana
Daspletosaurus is very closely related to the much larger Tyrannosaurus rex and may be an ancestor in the T.rex lineage. It possessed the largest, strongest arms and biggest claws of any tyrannosaurid, so it may be that Daspletosaurus used its arms to catch and kill prey, unlike T. rex and others. Daspletosaurus teeth can be very large and tall as the biggest T. rex teeth, but they are much more laterally compressed (i.e. thinner from side to side). Where T. rex teeth have been called "deadly bananas", Daspletosaurus teeth would be more aptly called "sabers" because they were so very thin - like "saber-toothed tiger" teeth. The thinner a serrated tooth is, the better knife it becomes, i.e. it becomes much better at slicing flesh. Since this trait is so strong in Daspletosaurus, more so than in any other tyrannosaurid, there must have been significant hunting and killing technique differences between Daspletosaurus and Tyrannosaurus and the other tyrannosaurids such as Gorgosaurus. The skull of Daspletosaurus was nearly as big as T. rex's but not nearly as robust so they may have targeted the same very large prey but with different styles of attack. Daspletosaurus teeth are much rarer than teeth of any other tyrannosaurid, even T. rex, so their population in a fauna was at a relatively lower level than that of T.rex and other tyrannosaurids. This tooth is from a very large animal and measures 3 1/4 inches tall by 1 1/8 inches wide by 5/8 inches thick (very narrow). It has a gorgeous chocolate-brown color with reddish accents and tan, yellow and black checking. It has several feeding wear facets near the tip and battle damage near the base of the posterior serrate row (carina) which was smoothed-out by repeated chewing after the fight. There are also very fresh serrate drag scars near the tip with no wear suggesting that this tooth was also lost in battle. There is a small area near the center of the enamel area where restoration was done but overall, less than 5% of the surface was restored. An excellent example of a very rare tooth.

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