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:
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:
Copyright © 2004 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and david R. Schwimmer
Archosaurian,
Aunt Beast
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:
Copyright © 2004 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and david R. Schwimmer
Archosaurian,
Aunt Beast
- Current Mood:
geeky
Comments
May I ask what tipped you off to the tooth's state of not-fishiness?
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....
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.
You are wonderful geeky.
Thank you for the photos of the tooth.