Tyrannosaurus rex tooth
This is another nice specimen from an old collection we reacquired. A nice dark chocolate colored Tyrannosaurus rex tooth from an adult male, displaying perfect serration, nice enamel, an intact un-repaired tip with a beautiful slight wear facet on that tip. The tooth was slightly longer in the critter's mouth and it's theorized that it cracked off in the animal's mouth antemortem. One side of the specimens enamel has what appears to be a weird mineralization with tiny light accents along that side. The other side has a small patch of enamel disruption, as shown in the photo. We do not repair or try to hide anything, in order to keep specimens as natural as we acquire them.
An excellent specimen at an excellent price. We would give this tooth on a scale of 1-10: ~ 7.9
Again, Tyrannosaurus material has been going up in value astronomically over the last few years and it looks to continue appreciating. However, we believe the market to be overpriced and can afford to sell this specimen for a price that is much more reasonable than most others would consider doing so.
Measurements: ~ 2-1/2" long (on curve) x 1" wide x 3/4" thick
Location: Hell Creek Formation, Garfield County Montana, USA
Time period: Cretaceous / ~ 90 myo
Of all Dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus-rex, meaning "Tyrant Lizard King", has unquestionably captured modern culture's title as being the most popular carnivorous theropod dinosaur that ever existed. Nicknamed "T-rex", Tyrannosaurus-rex, although not the largest carnivore ever, was the largest "tyrannosaurid" that existed by far, measuring up to 40 feet (~12 meters) long, 20 feet (~6 meters tall) and weighing up to 6.8 metric tons.
Tyrannosaurus' skull had pneumatized (honeycombs with tiny air pockets) bones in its 5' long skull, thereby making it lighter in weight. That unique structure allowed the creature to wield its massive jaws down like an ax, breaking bones and sinking its long cone shaped teeth into its victims. At 10x the force of an alligator, Tyrannosaurus-rex had the strongest bite force of any land animal that has ever lived and it's estimated to have been able to grab up to 500 lb. of flesh in one single bite from its prey.
This hunter / scavenger was literally a walking tripod, using its powerful tail to counter balance its enormous body, which tilted forward on an approximate 45 degree angle. A debate continues as to what Tyrannosaurus’ maximum speed was, as some paleontologists feel the animal didn't run, but walked fast enough to catch its prey. However, most suggest it could move up to 25 mph. Others suggest the beast sometimes caused itself severe injury or even death if it fell in full stride due do its massive size.