Fossil Raptor Tooth & Hadrosaur Tooth in Situ - Judith River Formation

This is a beautiful, .37" long serrated small theropod (raptor) tooth preserved alongside a .30" wide hadrosaur shed tooth, collected from the Judith River Formation of Montana. They're naturally associated with a chunk of bone that looks like a nodosaur/ankylosaur scute, though it's tough to tell for sure. This formation is approximately 75 million years old, or about 9 million years older than the Hell Creek Formation which produces Tyrannosaurus rex.

The teeth have been exposed from the rock they were found in, with a significant amount of rock left in place for in situ presentation. The serrations on the raptor tooth are small and best seen under magnification. Hadrosaurs had a massive battery of teeth in their mouth for chewing the rough vegetation that made up their diet. They shed these teeth during their lifetime and collectors often refer to these teeth as "spitters".

The Judith River Formation is one of the world's most prolific sources of Late Cretaceous vertebrate fossils. At least sixteen Orders containing more than forty Genera are known from the formation. These include fish, amphibians, mammals, and insects in addition to reptiles and avian (birds) and non-avian dinosaurs. Among the more interesting specimens is Leonardo, a mummified and fossilized Brachylophosaurus. This is a hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur found with amazing soft-tissue preservation: skin impressions can be found on 90 percent of its body! The pattern in the skin on its feet is even preserved. In addition to Leonardo, the Judith River Formation contains the remains of the theropod Hesperornis, the only known freshwater Hespernorthid, a penguin-like bird.

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