Introducing Sharks, Skates, Rays, and Chimaeras 19
Where can I find fossil shark teeth?
Replacement teeth developed early during shark evolution, as is evident
from the abundance of fossil teeth found in many parts of the world. Some
of the richest deposits in the United States, in terms of numbers and spe-
cies diversity, occur in coastal South Carolina; Calvert Cliffs State Park in
Maryland; many locales in Florida, including Bone Valley in Polk County;
Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield and Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz, Cali-
fornia; and several locales in North Carolina and New Jersey, among oth-
ers. Teeth still embedded in sedimentary rock occur most commonly in
Tooth of the extinct Carcharocles an-
gustidens (Oligocene, 45 – 28 million
years ago), showing basic terms ap-
plied to a shark’s tooth. The crown
is where enamel height is measured;
cusplets are also called “side cusps.”
Redrawn from THobern, Wikimedia Commons,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lingual_side
.JPGBashford Dean’s famous 1909 recon-
struction of the jaws of Carcharocles
megalodon, displayed in the Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History.
Dean was the first to attempt such a
reconstruction, from which he esti-
mated Meg’s length at 30 m ( 98 ft).
Unfortunately, the cartilage portions
of both jaws were too tall, and this
mistake affected the eventual length
calculation. Recent reconstructions
sell for around $ 10 , 000 if made with
artificial teeth, $ 100 , 000 if real fos-
sils are used (www.megalodonteeth.
com). Maybe Santa has room in
his sleigh. Wikimedia Commons, http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carcharodon_mega
lodon.jpg