2.55" Tyrannosaur Tooth In Matrix(Judith River)

Size: tooth- 2.55" L matrix 4" wide x 2.9 tall

Species: tyrannosaurid (daspletosaurus or gorgosaurus)

Age: late cretaceous- 75.3-79 MYA

Location Found: Judith River Formation, Blaine County, northern Montana, USA

Due to the closely shared evolutionary traits of Late Cretaceous predators, isolated tyrannosaurid teeth from the Judith River Formation cannot be definitively assigned to a single genus without accompanying skeletal material.

Both the sleek, fast-moving albertosaurine (Gorgosaurus libratus) and the heavy-set, robust tyrannosaurine (Daspletosaurus wilsoni/torosus) inhabited the ancient floodplains of Montana at the exact same time. Their teeth overlap significantly in enamel thickness, denticle count (serration density), and overall crown geometry. Furthermore, tooth shapes varied drastically throughout an individual dinosaur's jaw—a tooth from the side of a juvenile Daspletosaurus jaw can easily mimic the slender, blade-like shape of an adult Gorgosaurus maxillary tooth.