This is a tooth from a dinosaur called听Troodon, a small听three听feet tall听meat-eater that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 77 to 66 million years ago.听The 1听mm scale gives us a clue on just how small听Troodon听was as this听tooth is听approximately 4 mm in width, its teeth were听smaller than our teeth!听Troodon听was one of the first dinosaurs ever discovered from North America and was first described by famous paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1856. Leidy gave this animal the name听Troodon听meaning 鈥渨ounding tooth鈥�. Unlike other meat-eating dinosaurs,听Troodon听teeth have very distinctive serrations that resemble the serrations found on the teeth of herbivorous reptiles. This suggests that听Troodon听may have been omnivorous (kind of like us), instead of a strict meat-eater.听
Troodon听fossils have been found in several locations in the western United States, from west Texas all the way to northern Alaska. Teeth collected in Alaska are much larger than teeth collected in more southern locales, suggesting that the Alaska听Troodon听was a much bigger individual than its southern counterparts. This听specimen听was collected in western Colorado in the Williams Fork Formation.听Geologic formations are听units of rock layers (bedding or strata)听in which geologists can听correlate听the layers and even use the听layers听as geologic time markers.听CU Museum听paleontologists are currently conducting field research in the Williams Fork Formation, primarily looking for fossils of early mammals听such as听Meniscoessus听who were听contemporaneous with听Troodon听during the Late Cretaceous. Hopefully, we will be able to find more听Troodon听fossils this summer too!
Catalog Number: UCM 57501
罢补虫辞苍辞尘测:听罢谤辞辞诲辞苍听蹿辞谤尘辞蝉耻蝉
Location: Rio Blanco Co., Colorado
Age: Late Cretaceous, Campanian
Stratigraphy: Williams Fork Formation
Fiorillo, A. R. 2008. On the Occurrence of Exceptionally Large Teeth of Troodon (Dinosauria:听Saurischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Northern Alaska. PALAIOS 23:322鈥�328.
Holtz, T. R., D. L. Brinkman, and C. L. Chandler. 1998. Denticle Morphometrics and a Possibly Omnivorous Feeding Habit听for听the Theropod Dinosaur Troodon. GAIA 15:8.
Lillegraven, J.听A. 1987. Stratigraphic and听Evolutionary听Implications of a听New听Species of听Meniscoessus听(Multituberculata, Mammalia) from the Upper Cretaceous Williams Fork Formation, Moffat County, Colorado.听Dakoterra听3, p. 46-56.
Stevens, K. A. 2006. Binocular Vision in Theropod Dinosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26:321鈥�330.听