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  • Heterodontus cainozoicus


    Images:

    Dan 1000

    Taxonomy

    Port Jackson Shark

    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Class: Chondrichthyes
    Order: Heterodontiformes
    Family: Heterodontidae
    Genus: Heterodontus
    Species: Heterodontus cainozoicus
    Author Citation Chapman & Pritchard, 1904

    Geological Time Scale

    Eon: Phanerozoic
    Era: Cenozoic
    Period: Neogene
    Sub Period: None
    Epoch: Miocene
    International Age: late Messinian to early Zanclean

    Stratigraphy

    Brighton Group
    Beaumaris Sandstone Formation

    Provenance

    Acquired by: Field Collection

    Dimensions

    Length: 12 mm
    Width: 8 mm
    Height: 4 mm

    Location

    Beaumaris Cliffs
    Beaumaris
    Victoria
    Australia

    Comments

    Port Jackson Shark crushing tooth collected from Beaumaris, Victoria. The first I have ever collected.




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    sixgill pete

    Posted

    What a splendid specimen of an uncommon species. Thanks for adding the additional photos.

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    I_gotta_rock

    Posted

    I never knew that there were sharks that crushed their food instead of shredding it. Any idea what they were eating?

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    @sixgill pete  @I_gotta_rock

    Thank you for your comments. I believe that they use their crushing plates to crush and eat molluscs, crabs and lobsters and sea urchins. This is what modern Port Jackson Sharks eat and you can find many mollusc, crab and sea urchin fossils at the site.

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    Miocene_Mason

    Posted

    3 hours ago, I_gotta_rock said:

    I never knew that there were sharks that crushed their food instead of shredding it. Any idea what they were eating?

    Quite a few actually, fossil and modern. Hybodontiforms like ptychodus being some of the more prolific types of durophagus sharks.

     

    Nice tooth Daniel, I can’t believe that the shark has trolled those waters for 5 million years! 

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    Still_human

    Posted

    I guess evolution thinks they're cute, too!

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    Still_human

    Posted

    44 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

    Nice tooth Daniel, I can’t believe that the shark has trolled those waters for 5 million years! 

    Is that a particularly long time for a species to survive/ or last as a species before evolving?

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    I_gotta_rock

    Posted

    41 minutes ago, Still_human said:

    Is that a particularly long time for a species to survive/ or last as a species before evolving?

    Not necessarily. There are a number of shark and invertebrate species that have been around since at least the Miocene. For laughs I looked up the oldest species on Earth. This list isn't actually all species. It drifts off into families and phyla, but it's still fun.

    http://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-oldest-animal-species-on-earth/

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    Beautiful Tooth. Could you add the size? For "Shark Week" displays, the modern spiral egg case from a Heterodont should be of interest.

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    Miocene_Mason

    Posted

    8 hours ago, Still_human said:

    Is that a particularly long time for a species to survive/ or last as a species before evolving?

    No, but it’s a while for a shark to only live in one place (the Australian coast)

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    sixgill pete

    Posted

    6 hours ago, fossilnut said:

    Beautiful Tooth. Could you add the size? 

    If you look under the Details section the size is listed there.

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    @sixgill pete  Thanks for that information. Unfortunately, I made the assumption since nothing showed under the various headings (except for Taxonomy) that there was no information listed :faint:.  My apologizes to DanKurek.

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