Overview
- The tooth, catalogued as MUSM 5121, was identified as belonging to a spinosaurid and is now featured in the “Espinosaurios en el Perú” exhibit at UNMSM’s Natural History Museum in Lima.
- Diagnostic traits—thin crown with two cutting edges, circular cross-section, rough enamel and longitudinal striations—support its assignment to the Spinosauridae family, though no genus is being named.
- The specimen comes from Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Fundo El Triunfo/Chota formation in Llimbo, Utcubamba, and was recovered during a 2016 international expedition; analysis involved Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan.
- Researchers say this is the first spinosaur record for Peru, making it the second South American country with evidence of the group and filling a notable gap in the nation’s Mesozoic record.
- The team interprets the find as evidence of intermittent Late Cretaceous connections between western Peru and eastern Brazil and is calling for new field campaigns in Bagua Grande.