LOT 0402

The Tooth of a North American Tyrannosaurus-Rex from Montana

MAASTRICHTIAN, UPPER CRETACEOUS, CIRCA 67-66 MILLION YEARS B.P.

2 1/8 in., 4 7/8 in. (53 grams total, tooth: 54 mm, 12.5 cm including stand).

A well-preserved large tooth with knife-like serrations on two edges, designed to slice through flesh and bone, displaying beautiful dark brown patina.

Found in the Hells Creek Formation, Montana, USA.
Property of a Bristol, UK, gentleman collector.

The most famous and iconic of all dinosaur species, the Tyrannosaurus rex, was first described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1905 from a skeleton found in 1902, from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. An adult Tyrannosaurus would have weighed almost nine tonnes, standing over 4 meters tall at the hip and exceeding 13 meters in length. It is no wonder this theropod was the top predator of the Late Cretaceous, and amongst the last dinosaurs to walk the Earth before their mass extinction. The present tooth offers an incredible insight into how these ferocious creatures lived, characterised by its unique curved and serrated shape, which was specifically adapted to help the dinosaur tear through hides and flesh, with the curvature allowing maximum force to be applied as it tore into its prey.