References
Reference
Forrest, Richard (1999) plesiosaur teeth - email; Email,
plesiosaur teeth - email
Principal Author
Richard Forrest
Header
Email
Journal
Email
Abstract
Although plesiosaurs from Morocco are known to exist, very little academic research has been done into them. Most material is sold to collectors, and details of locality and horizon kept secret for commercial reasons.
My assesment of your tooth has to be very tentative for this reason. However, the fact that it is relatively long and slender would be consistent with one of the long-necked forms, and the lack of surface oranament suggets that it is a cryptoclidid. I can't tell much more than that from the photo. I'm a great believer in the principle that you have to handle the material.
As regards further preparation: This is always a dilema. In some ways I prefer to extract a specimen completely from its' matrix, as this yields the greatest taxonomic information. However, in doing so other potentialy valuable information may be lost. In your case I would suggest that you do as little as possible beyond exposing the tooth itself.
My assesment of your tooth has to be very tentative for this reason. However, the fact that it is relatively long and slender would be consistent with one of the long-necked forms, and the lack of surface oranament suggets that it is a cryptoclidid. I can't tell much more than that from the photo. I'm a great believer in the principle that you have to handle the material.
As regards further preparation: This is always a dilema. In some ways I prefer to extract a specimen completely from its' matrix, as this yields the greatest taxonomic information. However, in doing so other potentialy valuable information may be lost. In your case I would suggest that you do as little as possible beyond exposing the tooth itself.
Language
English