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INTACT & FINEST GRADE TYRANNOSAURUS REX TOOTH WITH NO REPAIR OR
RESTORATION
Hell Creek Formation -
South Dakota, U.S.A.
LATE
CRETACEOUS PERIOD: 68 - 65 million years ago
Most
TYRANNOSAURUS TEETH are usually quite ugly despite their
steep prices reflecting their rarity and market demand. No type of
dinosaur commands more respect and fascination than the members of the
tyrannosaur family and a T. rex tooth or fossil seems to be at the top
of every dinosaur fancier's list. Without question, fine quality teeth
and bones of these
dinosaurs will steadily appreciate year after year as limited legal
collecting regions in the United States continue to be scavenged and
produce less and less fine quality specimens.
This
will probably be one of the few attractive and choice grade T. rex teeth you will ever see
offered that has
NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION.
Don't be put off by the size of this tooth.
This intact
tooth came from a full-grown, adult Tyrannosaurus rex
and is a fully erupted tooth. Teeth varied in size in the jaw of this dinosaur and the second to last
image at the bottom of this page shows the dentition of a fully grown T.
rex and the varying teeth crown sizes, for comparison. This is the NUMBER ONE dinosaur to have a tooth from and
even the most hideous and plastic-filled teeth fetch strong prices.
While we have collected T. rex specimens in the past, and constantly get
requests for teeth, it is a seldom occurrence in the life of a fossil
hunter to discover a complete Tyrannosaurus rex tooth that is complete
and fully intact and is of a very high grade as this example is.
A COMPLETE UNBROKEN
specimen such as this, is SUPER RARE!
Which makes this fossil
tooth being offered here an extraordinary find. It is important to
highlight that where others have sold teeth as complete and they were
only the tips, this is THE COMPLETE TOOTH evidenced by the nature of the
diminishing serrations on the trailing edge and anatomy of the tooth on
the base. The tooth was amazingly found 100%
intact as seen above. The tip is complete and sharp with only very
slight evidence natural feeding wear which means this tooth saw some
action! Remarkably, it was never broken and survived as it was
found in the condition you see it in the above photos. The
serrations are exquisite
and run all the way up both edges. The enamel is rich black-brown
with fine grain super natural luster with NO enamel peel and NO missing
portions of enamel. Where many large T. rex teeth are composites
of several unrelated teeth pieced together to make a seemingly nice,
large fossil tooth,
this PRIZE FIND is all
original.
The tooth looks even better in
person!!! VERY Highly
recommended and one of the most surefire investment fossils you could
ever own! Most T. rex teeth are HEAVILY reconstructed and in
most cases, more plastic than tooth is present! A good paint job
can hide wonders so know what you are getting!!!
WARNING:
The staff of Paleo Direct
is fully experienced and regularly performs all phases of fossil repair
and restoration on their premises where needed. This work is
always disclosed on our website voluntarily, and can be found in the
text of the fossils we offer. Caveat emptor
when it comes to dealers that buy already prepared specimens because there is a great tendency to stretch the truth when it
comes to completeness and authenticity as the financial rewards ARE
VERY HIGH on fossils from this dinosaur, ESPECIALLY!
This is a
very important issue in the fossil business as almost all fossils
have some repair and/or restoration.
Purchasing specimens FROM
THE ACTUAL PERSON OR PERSONS DOING THE PREPARATION WORK is VITAL for you
the buyer, to know what you are getting.
Buying rare fossils from a seller that just goes to a show or broker,
buying from someone else who simply echoes what they were told is the
best way to get a mystery fossil with no recourse to
determine as to what kind of work has been done. This kind of rampant
misrepresentation in the fossil market is one of the key arguments the
science community uses to discourage buying fossils in the first place!
To be sure that what you are buying is accurately and honestly
represented, only
deal with a highly experienced professional who is actively engaged in,
as well as has first-hand
knowledge AND experience with regard to fossil preparation, repair and
restoration. Equally important is a complete understanding of the anatomy of the
specimen and animal at hand.

The name
TYRANNOSAURUS REX is synonymous with sheer terror. Just mention
the name and almost anyone, regardless of how much or little they know
about paleontology, will recognize the "Tyrant Lizard King". Long
thought to be the largest meat-eating dinosaur that ever lived, it has
been recently discovered that
Carcharodontosaurus (Giganotosaurus) was actually larger but
not as robust as T. rex. Clearly, the massive proportions and
musculature of Tyrannosaurus rex were meant for one thing, taking down
anything that challenged it or got in its way!
TYRANNOSAURUS
REX grew to up 46 feet long, 20 feet high at the hips and weighed 5 to 7
tons. Despite some claims as to this beast being a clumsy
scavenger, the undeniable facts about T. rex's anatomy indicate quite
the opposite. This enormous killer was built to HUNT.
It had amazing senses for smelling (based on braincase studies and
enlarged lobes for this sense) but more importantly, Tyrannosaurus rex
was HIGHLY DEVELOPED for seeing - something you do not
need when all you "chase" after is a non-moving, dead animal. The
massive five foot skull had 4 inch diameter eye sockets that would have
held a 3 inch diameter eyeball. T. rex possessed
large lobes in its
brain for vision that processed complex sight information. T. rex
also had a unique head compared to most predatory dinosaurs with both
eyes facing forward on the front of its skull. This allowed ideal
depth perception - best needed for stalking and hunting LIVE, running
prey. While other predatory dinosaurs possessed depth perception,
it would not have been as developed as T. rex because of this feature.
Plant-eating dinosaurs have their eyes located on the sides of their
heads which allows them to WATCH FOR PREDATORS from all
directions, something T. rex never needed since it was THE king of
predators and had NO equal in its region.
The jaws
of a Tyrannosaurus rex were up to 4 feet long. Each dinosaur
possessed approximately 50 to 60 robust, conical teeth that ranged in
size from an inch to over 9 inches long. These teeth were rounder
in cross-section
than
most other predatory dinosaurs' teeth which enabled T. rex's teeth to
better stand up to crushing bone. Conical teeth can also best
sustain the impact force of hitting the body of its prey when attacking
and holding struggling prey prior to the kill. Like many
predatory dinosaurs, an adult T. rex had a range of lengths of teeth in
its jaws at any time. Teeth were constantly emerging and replacing
damaged or worn ones.
Clearly,
the sheer robustness of Tyrannosaurus rex required enormous amounts of
protein to sustain such body mass. True scavengers tend to be lean
with wiry, lighter bodies able to function better between the discovery
of carcasses in the wild. Active predators will usually scavenge a
carcass as a 'target of opportunity' which T. rex most probably did, but
the mighty design of T. rex would have been both - 1) unnecessary
up against prey that is not alive to fight back and, 2) of a body mass
difficult to sustain over the lifetime of the beast on the availability
of carrion, alone.
Fossil
remains of T. rex represent the pinnacle of dinosaur fossil collections
and exhibits the world over. Their universal appeal and rarity
compared to ever-increasing market demand put fine quality
Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the forefront of highly promising
INVESTMENT FOSSILS.
Be aware of dealers offering
fragmented bones and teeth as being from T. rex. Ignorance and
deception persists in the fossil trade as the financial rewards are
great for wrongly classifying a fossil as from T. rex. Deal ONLY
with reputable and knowledgeable suppliers who will provide a
certificate and lifetime guarantee of positive identification.
AMAZINGLY RARE CONDITION
WITH PERFECT SERRATIONS- MOST PROMISING INVESTMENT OF ANY FOSSIL, PERIOD! 2.25" long on
the leading edge
$5495
DT18-023
INCLUDES
DISPLAY BOX Actual
Item - One Only
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