Fine Albertosaurus Dinosaur Meatcutter Tooth from Montana

Description: Presented is an excellent quality Albertoaurus dinosaur tooth found in Northern Montana in the Judith River Formation. This is a historically important area. Early paleontologists like Edward Drinker Cope explored here as early as 1876.
Albertosaurus (meaning "Alberta lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, more than 70 million years ago in western North America. Although a large theropod, Albertosaurus at 2 tonnes was much smaller than its more famous T-Rex. Some 20 Albertasourus have been found, providing detailed anatomical data; 22 at one site in Alberta shows evidence of pack behavior and ontogeny data.

All tyrannosaurids, including Albertosaurus, shared a similar bauplan. As is typical for a theropod, Albertosaurus was bipedal and balanced the heavy head and torso with a long tail. However, tyrannosaurid forelimbs were extremely small for their body size and retained only two digits. The hind limbs were long and ended in a four-toed foot. The first digit, called the hallux, was short and only the other three contacted the ground, with the third (middle) digit longer than the rest. Albertosaurus may have been able to reach speeds of 25–30 miles per hour

The type species, Albertosaurus sarcophagus, was first discovered in the province of Alberta, its namesake. Some scientists consider Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species of Albertosaurus.

Note the fine serration of the tooth, a tell-tell sign of the fierce Theropod dinosaurs. The suborder first appeared in the Carnian age of the Late Triassic period some 230 million years ago becoming the sole large terrestrial carnivores from the Early Jurassic until the end Cretaceous mass extinction some 65 Ma. Their remaining genetic legacy are more than 9000 living bird species that evolved in the Late Jurassic from the small and specialized coelurosaurian dinosaurs. The characteristics linking theropods to birds are the three-toed foot, a furcula (wishbone), air-filled bones and (in some cases) feathers as well as brooding of their eggs