Shark, Plesiosaur

In this lot we auction a set of teeth of good size from the species Otodus obliquus (6.6-5.5 cm), Zarafasaura oceanis (4.4 cm) and Talassotitán atrox (8 cm, complete piece). Very good overall preservation, O. obliquus tooth with the two typical lateral cusps of the species, repaired plesiosaur tooth. All teeth have a natural enamel shine, very pleasant. They originate from phosphate mines (main quarries Oued Zem and Sidi Chennane) in the Abdoun Ouled basin, Khouribga province (Morocco). Oulad Abdoun is the largest fossil phosphate basin, and the northernmost of Morocco's main phosphate basins. The phosphate deposits have preserved a large number of vertebrate fossils from the Upper Cretaceous to the Eocene. The fossils include a diversity of marine and terrestrial animals, such as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, elasmobranchs and dinosaurs. Although they come from the same quarries, these species correspond to different geological times: Otodus obliquus belongs to strata from the Paleogene period, mainly Paleocene-Eocene, while Mosasauroidea and Plesiosauria are found in strata of the Late Cretaceous. Each mosasaur species has a type of teeth that are easily recognizable; in this particular species they tend to be quite robust and massive (piercers-grinders), usually with rounded and smooth shapes and a fairly marked flat-faced keel, very distinctive. Talassotitán atrox, discovered in Morocco, is one of the largest mosasaurs known, with lengths of over 12 meters; "it must have been a formidable predator". Zarafasaura Oceanis, according to Arabs: the ocean giraffe reptile, is one of the last plesiosaur species that lived during the Cretaceous; it is also an iconic species of Morocco’s phosphates. Regarding Otodus obliquus, it is thought to have been a large shark, capable of reaching more than 10 meters in length and up to 15 tons in weight. The lot is accompanied by L-shaped acrylic supports for display as a gift.

Estimate:$1.11

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