Length 0.45 inches 11.5mm
Date Obtained February 2021
Location Judith River formation, Hill county, Montana, USA
Age 79 million years, Campanian, Cretaceous
This Saurornitholestes tooth is of a good size for the species and is in excellent condition despite missing the tip, featuring good serrations and enamel. It would be a good specimen for the collector who wants a decent-sized, inexpensive dromaeosaur tooth.
All our fossils are consolidated with paraloid b72, to preserve for future generations as is standard procedure within all museums. No repairs or restoration to this fossil.
Saurornitholestes was one of the smaller dromaeosaurs in the Judith River Formation ecosystem, being more lightly built than Dromaeosaurus despite being of a similar length. Like all dromaeosaurs, it would have been covered in feathers, and at its size it would have been a mesopredator much like a modern coyote, eating smaller animals.
The Judith River Formation of Montana dates to the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 75-80 million years ago. Notable dinosaurs from this formation include the tyrannosaurs Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus, the hadrosaur Brachylophosaurus, and the ankylosaur Zuul.