1.72" Dinosaur (Camarasaurus) Tooth - Colorado

This is a nice 1.72" tooth of Camarasaurus, a giant sauropod dinosaur from the Morrison Formation in Colorado. It had very distinctive teeth that were designed for eating coarse vegetation. There is some feeding wear visible at the top of the tooth and what appears to be wear from the adjacent tooth along one side of the tooth. There is a repaired crack and some glue stabilization at the basal end.


Camarasaurus was a medium-sized sauropod dinosaur whose fossils are found in the Morrison Formation of the Southest United States. It is estimated to have reached lengths of up to 75 feet long and had an estimated maximum weight of around 50 tons. Compared to contemporary Diplodocids, it had a shorter tail, longer forelimbs, and a much larger and more robust skull.

An artists rendering of Camarasaurus.  By Jesus Gamarra.  Creative Commons License
An artists rendering of Camarasaurus. By Jesus Gamarra. Creative Commons License


Camarasaurus skulls are quite distinctive: they have blunt snout and quite a square shape. Camarasaurus had large, spoon-shaped teeth, unlike many sauropod dinosaurs that had small, peg-like teeth. This likely indicates that it ate coarser vegetation, allowing it to share the same environment as other sauropods without competing for food. It may have replaced its teeth approximately every 60 days as they became worn from chewing. Its cervical vertebrae had hollow chambers to reduce weight on the neck, leading to its name, which means “chambered lizard”.

A Camarasaurus skull cast showing the spoon-shaped teeth.
A Camarasaurus skull cast showing the spoon-shaped teeth.


Camarasaurus is considered the most abundant of the sauropod dinosaurs found in North America. Its fossils have been found in almost every major Morrison Formation dinosaur locality, with fossils found in localities from across many states including New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Montana and Oklahoma.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Camarasaurus grandis
LOCATION
Dinosaurs Of America Quarry, Dinosaur, Colorado
FORMATION
Morrison Formation
SIZE
1.72" long
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#218309
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