Fossils

A few weeks ago a mineral trade fair was in our area. Actually I wanted to grab a dinosaur tooth there but instead I came home with something else: I bought a molar of the mandible of a mammoth (Mammuthis primigenius). I’ve always wanted such a tooth and finally I got one at a very good price! I only had to glue some parts and I’m very happy with it – yay! But dude, it’s quite heavy. It’s about 10kg and I had muscle ache in my arms the next day after carrying it home xD
I own some more fossils to show, come and see more pictures and info under the cut.

I’m sorry for the bad photos of the mammoth tooth. It was so heavy so I put it on the sofa. As you can see on the pictures, the tooth doesn’t have a “normal” root like other mammal teeth use to have. That’s normal for elephant teeth, because they don’t grow vertical, they grow horizontal. The shape of the tooth is quite unique as well, it’s lamellar (similar like some vole teeth). I think like normal elephants the mammoths changed their teeth until the sixth molar appeared. If the sixth molar was worn down, the animal had to starve.

The lower side.

View from the top.

The side view. Size of that tooth: ca. 19cm high and ca. 27cm long. Veeeeeery heavy (about 10kg). They found that tooth in Russia and it’s about 70 000 years old.

I own a few more fossil teeth. My Spinosaurus tooth for example. It is about 10cm long and (sadly) without the root. I think the tooth would be much larger if it was still there.

T-rex skeleton, museum in Ontario Canada.

I own this tooth since over 20 years now and found in on a mineral fare as well. I was there with my mother and she bought me that tooth, but I didn’t get any pocket money for the rest of the year then xD
But I’m very proud to own such a unique dinosaur tooth. I never saw a tyrannosaur rex tooth at any mineral trade fares so far.

But you can find a lot of fossil shark and mosasaur teeth, the latter being a “sea dinosaur”. I own a very beautiful one. It’s about 4cm long and 80 million years old. To hold such an old part of an extinct animal in your hand is a strange and an amazing feeling.

If you are lucky you even can find fossils by your own. I found these mussels in South Germany in a field. I love them!

My grand aunty found this huge urchin when she was on vacation. She never expected that it was a fossil until I saw it in her home and told her about it. I must’ve had big eyes, because she gave it to me <3 It’s huge!

 Even if enjoy collecting skulls of (non extinct) animals more, finding (or buying) a fossil is still a nice enrichment for my collection. Maybe I’ll buy a dinosaur tooth next year. Or a megalodon tooth. Or a dinosaur egg. Or... xD