How to identify a pterosaur tooth

Paul Pursglove (UK) Take a close look at the three teeth labelled A, B and C in Fig. 1. All of these teeth could have been sold by unscrupulous fossil dealers as pterosaur teeth. So, which is the real pterosaur tooth? Pterosaur teeth are very rare fossils and they tend to be difficult to identify in isolation. However, they do command a high price to a collector. Most people who research pterosaurs will take time to study the teeth and to compare them with reference collections and scientific papers which are held in repositories at universities and major museums. So let us look at some of the general rules for identifying the teeth of pterosaurs. Fig. 1. What teeth are these? Triassic pterosaurs These little beasties are as rare as it gets. They are only known from a few sites worldwide, and the major finds come from the Zorzino Limestone of Cene, near Bergamo in Italy and from the Preon Valley. Other isolated specimens are known from Greenland, Luxembourg, Austria and Texas. There is also a speculative specimen from the Rhaetic bone beds in the UK. Most of these pterosaurs have three cusped teeth which are very distinctive. I am not aware of any Triassic pterosaur teeth in private collections. Jurassic pterosaurs These pterosaurs are more numerous, but tend to be predominated by Dimorphodon, Pterodactylus or Rhamphorhynchus-like specimens. Rhamphorhynchus is a good example of the pterosaurs that have long dagger-like teeth; several other species have very similar teeth, which can occasionally … Read More