.58" Megalosaurid (Marshosaurus) Tooth With Bone Chunk - Colorado

Megalosaurid (Marshosaurus) Tooth With Bone Chunk - Colorado #182615

This is an interesting piece, featuring a small, Megalosaurid dinosaur (Marshosaurus?) tooth associated with a chunk of bone. This was collected recently from our partners quarry East of Dinosaur Colorado. It undetermined what the associated chunk of dinosaur bone is. The base of the rock has been cut flat so that the piece stands up nicely on a hard surface.

There are two main characteristics that distinguish it from the much more frequently found Allosaurus teeth. First, the serrations on the front edge of the tooth extend less than half way down the length of the tooth. Secondly there is little to no spiraling of serrations seen on Allosaurus teeth. It's also fairly thin in cross-section and hooked.

There are three described Megalosaurs in the Morrison Formation; Marshosaurus, Stokesosaurus and Torvosaurus. The tooth is too small to be Torvosaurus and Marshosaurus is the more common of the remaining two.

Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized Megalosaur from the Late Jurassic, Morrison Formation. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at 4.5 meters (15 feet) and its weight at 200 kilograms (440 pounds). It is one of the rarer theropods in the Morrison Formation: only a single partial specimen has ever been recovered.

An artist's reconstruction of Marshosaurus, by Danny Cicchett. Creative Commons License

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