Serrated, 1" Raptor Tooth - Montana

This is a wonderfully preserved 1" long theropod (raptor) tooth collected from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana.

Often these smaller Tyrannosaur teeth from the Hell Creek Formation get labeled as being Dromaeosaur (Raptor) teeth based on their size. But, there is so much debate as to the exact classifications of the small theropod dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation, and the teeth are so similar, I feel trying to put a species on them is almost guesswork. Some maybe juvenile Tyrannosaurs such as Nanotyrannus, or Acheroraptor (a North American cousin of the famous Velociraptor) which has become somewhat of a catch all genus for the small theropod teeth from the Hell Creek Formation.