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2004 (redux)

  • Mar. 17th, 2013 at 8:54 PM
Shaw
A few days ago I posted the cover that Richard A. Kirk did for Kiernan, C. R., and Schwimmer, D. R. 2004. "First record of a velociraptorine theropod (Tetanurae, Dromaeosauridae) from the Eastern Gulf Coastal United States." The Mosasaur 7:89-93. I dug about and discovered a far better version of his art that its reproduction of the journal's cover. Here it is, behind the cut:



caitsdino2

Copyright © 2004 by Richard A Kirk



I also found these three shots of the tooth (the subject of the paper), imaged by the Fernbank Science Center's scanning electron microscope. It was electroplated with gold for the scans. The tooth, which I found while excavating a fossil sea turtle, has a height of 3.6 mm posteriorly and a maximum height of 4.9 mm. Yeah, tiny. At first, I mistook it for a fish tooth. Photos behind the cut:



fig1 copy

Copyright © 2004 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and david R. Schwimmer



Archosaurian,
Aunt Beast
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Comments

( 6 comments — Have your say! )
Musically Speaking
Mar. 18th, 2013 01:24 am (UTC)
I may like you best when you are geeky.
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shanejayell
Mar. 18th, 2013 01:31 am (UTC)
As I said on FB, Neat. :D Also, wow.
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eluneth
Mar. 18th, 2013 02:11 am (UTC)
Fantastic images! Thank you for sharing. I didn't realize that Richard Kirk did scientific illustrations as well - his renderings of texture are stunning.
May I ask what tipped you off to the tooth's state of not-fishiness?
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greygirlbeast
Mar. 18th, 2013 02:16 am (UTC)

Many hours staring at it through a microscope, and comparison with other specimens. I couldn't match it with any of the fish in the fauna, and then I was reading a paper of dromaeosaurid teeth and...lightbulb. Of course, then I had to prove i was right....
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argonel
Mar. 18th, 2013 10:19 pm (UTC)
Good catch, it does look like a fishy tooth. On the other hand I'm a metallurgist not a biologist or paleontologist so I wouldn't know that to look for to prove otherwise. I'm guessing that the serrations along both sides of the tooth were significant.

Also was the gold perhaps vacuum deposited rather than electroplated? That would be the most common method of preparing non-conductive samples for SEM work.
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sovay
Mar. 19th, 2013 04:08 am (UTC)
geeky

You are wonderful geeky.

Thank you for the photos of the tooth.
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( 6 comments — Have your say! )