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One likely source of the teeth you describe is gars, probably
Lepisosteus sp. You might check to see if there is a translucent,
slightly flattened area at the very tip of such teeth. Amiids
(bowfins) also have conical teeth, which can be blunt
(I assume you mean that the tips are such: I can't visualize blunt
proximal ends unless you mean they have rounded bases). Lizard teeth
are another possibility, but terrestrial forms have teeth usually
quite slender and pointed, rather than conical, and often occur in
sets fused at the bases to jawbones.
On 14 May 96 at 10:29, Norton, Patrick wrote:
> Last summer, I came across a fairly dense concentration of small (5-8 mm)
> reptilian(?) teeth (conical in shape, black in color with blunt proximal
> ends) eroding from a channel deposit in the upper Hell Creek Formation in
> McCone County, Montana--east of the Fort Peck Reservoir and north of Circle.
> The erosional debris downslope of the site included many similar teeth,
> along with fragments of crocodilian scutes and turtle shell and a few small
> (1 cm.) disarticulated and scattered vertebral disks. One theropod tooth (7
> cm.) was also present. All material was left in place.
>
> I'm not very familiar with the paleoecology of the Hell Creek, and I am
> curious about the small teeth and the small vertebra. Can anyone offer any
> thoughts about those small teeth or point me to some literature that may be
> helpful? Many thanks.
> David Schwimmer
Dep't of Chemistry & Geology
Columbus College, Columbus GA 31907-5645
schwimmer_david@cc.csg.peachnet.edu
No, I'm not Ross.
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