Tyrannosaurus Rex Jaw With Teeth
The Partial Jaw of a Tyrannosaurus Rex With Four Rare Black Embedded Teeth. Late Cretaceous (approx. 67 million years ago), Hell Creek Formation, Dawson County, Montana, USA
Session begins in
July 14, 02:00 PM GMT
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 USD
Bid
130,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Tyrannosaurus Rex Jaw With Teeth
Tyrannosaurus rex
Late Cretaceous (approx. 67 million years ago)
Hell Creek Formation, Dawson County, Montana, USA
A section of the dentary of a Tyrannosaurus rex, exhibiting four teeth in various stages of eruption, with a very rare black coloration. Largest tooth measuring 7¼ inches along its anterior edge. Specimen measures 9¼ x 4 inches (23.5 x 10.2 cm) on custom metal stand. 6 pounds (2.72 kg).
Partial jaw with a set of four associated teeth kept as discovered. The jaw and teeth are well preserved and intact with complete tips and lots of serrations, but show weathered surfaces with minor to moderate exfoliation of enamel. Three teeth sit prominently in the jaw, the largest complete with roots. The unworn tip of an unerupted tooth tucked down in its alveolus, visible on the inner side (lingual) of the jaw.
Judging from the overall size and degree of the bone development, it can be determined that this fragment belonged to a large, mature individual. The teeth are preserved in exquisite detail in various stages of eruption, with most serrations intact.
TEETH FROM THE KING OF THE DINOSAURS
No animal elicits a combination of fascination, fear, and reverence quite like that of Tyrannosaurus rex, the "tyrant lizard king." Dominating the western landscape of Late Cretaceous North America, T. rex's five-foot-long skull was packed with 60 teeth and featured a bone-crushing bite force of nearly 13,000 pounds per square inch, the strongest of any terrestrial animal other than Gorgosaurus, its tyrannosaur relative.
In addition to its terrifying bite force, Tyrannosaurs’ teeth were constantly shedding and regrowing like those of modern day sharks. The present lot offers a snapshot of this lethal predator’s biology as four excellent teeth are visible, frozen in time at different stages of growth.
In comparison to other carnivorous theropods, Tyrannosaurus rex teeth are proportionally huge. Robust and thickly-enameled crowns strengthened dozens of teeth, with serrations on both the posterior and anterior edges. The almost unrivaled power of this 40-foot-long (12.2 meter) apex predator allowed it to hunt virtually every large dinosaur in its environment, including Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Ornithomimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and even other tyrannosaurs.
This segment comes from the Hell Creek Formation, one of the most renowned geological deposits for Late Cretaceous fossils.
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