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I've only been shark tooth hunting for about 3 years. I need help identifying teeth.

I’d like for my Post Oak Creek collection identified (specifically the shark teeth), but I can’t find much information online about the species of shark whose teeth are found here (Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas). When I HAVE come across general information about the creek and other peoples findings online, there aren’t any pictures of the teeth or nobody else knows exactly what they have. It’s also hard to tell if I’m grouping them correctly, so I apologize if I’m mixing some species together. The longer teeth have very similar characteristics, but greatly differ in size. And the only teeth that I HAVE been able to identify are the ptychodus teeth (not pictured), but only because they’re so unusual in appearance. Excuse the quality of the images. I don’t feel like setting up my camera right now, but I do plan on taking clearer images once I’ve correctly identified each specimen.

My family has been vacationing at Myrtle Beach for several years now and my son has really got into hunting for shark teeth. He's 12 and has ASD which means when he finds something he really likes and doesn't overwhelm him, it's a win for everyone. We watch a lot of the Facebook groups and the finds that some of those people show off. Our greatest find thus far are 2 GW particle tooth fossils. Lots and Lots of smaller teeth, I think we took home about a hundred last trip. He has always dreamed of finding a megalodon tooth. we have several that we've bought in stores down and around there Part of me says, just wondering down to the beach whenever we want and doing it how we want is a bit of the relaxing and fun that he has in it. Another part of me thinks it would be really cool to take him to some of the river banks or on one of the dig excursions. I really don't want to pay a bundle or travel too far away from Myrtle because if he is having a rough day , no matter how bad he wants to do it, he will still shut down and make it next to impossible to get him to participate. All of this would be for him, so trying to force him into it wouldn't be any fun for him at all. I've also see the videos of the pieces of the whales and other big animals people have found and wonder if we should even be looking for teeth or if we could go somewhere to look for bigger bones? Curious if there's anyone else out there in any similar situation and what your thoughts are or what you might suggest? I'm willing to do just about anything in the world to make my boy happy. Any thoughts or comments are very welcome

Well, it's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would to write the second part of this trip report, mostly because I've been busy with school and several trips to other places across Texas collecting fossils, but also because I must have made about nine trips to the particular Eagle Ford formation creek site I wrote about in the first post. I've got a lot I could say, but I'll narrow it down to just the most exciting finds - I've still got another trip report covering two trips I took to Jacksboro/Mineral Wells and Post Oak Creek to write as soon as I'm done with this one! I'll link that first trip report here for anyone that wants to read it: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/126948-texas-shark-tooth-extravaganza/&tab=comments#comment-1377551 As I had located the specific lense in the shale with the most shark teeth on the very same day that I discovered the site, the next couple trips were spent breaking it up further and seeing what else I could find in the exposed sections. Although I came away with a respectable haul of nicely-preserved teeth I didn't find anything I hadn't already found before. Getting bored of finding the same Ptychodus and Squalicorax teeth I decided to climb up the small and now-dry waterfall that stemmed from a creekbed sitting almost on top of the shark teeth lense in the shale. I figured that it would be easier to look down and break up the rock layers than to look up at them above my head and hope they didn't land on me when ever I pulled out another chunk. Here's a picture of the site with the waterfall to the left. You can follow the bentonite seam from the right to the left with your eyes to see where the lense crops up in the creekbed (it's the sort of dark crevice just above the waterfall ledge). Very quickly I was rewarded for my exploration as I pulled out the largest Ptychodus tooth I had ever seen (at the time - a little hint as to what I'll be talking about in my Post Oak Creek trip report ). I'm generally pretty clueless when it comes to identifying most Ptychodus down to the species level, so if anyone could help me out I'd really appreciate it! Here's an in-situ picture: And another picture taken after I had broken it out of its rocky prison: With my enthusiasm rekindled I kept digging through the shale and was rewarded by another Ptychodus tooth, even larger than the last, that actually popped out directly into my hand before I had even seen it. I didn't get a picture at the time but it is in this photo I took after I got home. It has some really interesting surface wear that I reasoned was probably accrued during the shark's lifetime. Directly behind where I found the two Ptychodus teeth was the find of the day and maybe even the find of the year, although I didn't know it at the time. This is a picture of it still in-situ if anyone wants to take a guess as to what it was: It was a mosasaur vertebra! And the largest piece of bone I had found at the site so far, many times larger than the coniasaur vert from the previous trip. This is what it looked like out of the shale back home when viewed from the bottom: One of the transverse processes can be seen on the right as well as the two attachment points for the haemal arch, which is sort of like the spine that's on top of each vertabra but located on the bottom in the vertebrae that make up the tail. Now at the time I didn't think this individual vertebra was anything special. I had found mosasaur vertebrae before at the North Sulphur River, many of which were much larger than this one and in much better condition. I was pleasantly surprised that I had found one at this site but didn't think much of it and so it was pocketed to be looked at later. It wasn't until I got home and had a conversation with @Jared C who is much more informed when it comes to the Eagle Ford than myself that I realized this one bone might be much more important. That's because I had initially assumed that I was looking at the contact between the Eagle Ford and the Austin Chalk, making this particular shark tooth lense I had discovered the famous Atco contact. Mosasaurs are rare in Turonian age rocks but certainly not unheard of (Jared himself even found one two years ago!). But after reading several different university publications on this particular site I realized that this spot wasn't the contact between the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk, but actually entirely Eagle Ford rock - specifically a subunit that placed it in the lower half of the formation. This meant that this one bone had come from the Cenomanian, not the Turonian, making it slightly older than the oldest known basal mosasaurines, both of which are also from Texas - Russellosaurus and Dallasaurus. Still not believing that I could have possibly been this lucky, I emailed Dr. Polcyn at SMU to get his opinion. He was the one to actually first describe both Russellosaurus and Dallasaurus and so I figured if anyone could tell me whether or not what I had found was significant it would be him. Jared has a pretty good relationship with Dr. Polcyn from his own mosasaur discovery so he was able to tell him to be on the lookout for my email. After a short exchange in which Dr. Polcyn expressed his interest in seeing the vertebra in person we arranged for me to meet him north of Dallas at a plesiosaur dig both he and Jared would be involved in. Meeting Dr. Polcyn was incredible. I've known of him for a long time since mosasaurs have always been my favorite prehistoric animal and he's definitely one of the leading researchers as far as they're concerned. I even remember seeing him interviewed for the news in 2005 when the Dallasaurus discovery was first made public and begging my grandparents to take me to the Dallas Museum to see their mosasaur skeletons. Dr. Polcyn was very interested in the vertebra when he saw it in person and asked me if I would be willing to donate it to SMU alongside the two Ptychodus teeth I had found next to it as they might be useful for dating purposes. I of course said yes as donating a fossil I had found to science has probably been my dream since I could first talk. We made plans for me to go back to the site and collect a large sample of the bentonite from the seam located beneath where I found the vertebra so it can be dated by SMU and the age of the bone confirmed. The bentonite being present at the site is extremely fortunate as it is one of the most conducive materials to dating sedimentary strata. Rounding out my finds for the day that I found the mosasaur vertebra was a pycnodont fish mouthplate: And also another nice coniasaur vertebra (I actually found several more but this was the best and the only one I got a good picture of): Not all of the animals I saw at the site were dead and many millions of years old though. In the same vicinity as the mosasaur vertebra was a toad that I had clearly disturbed in my search for associated bones. I apologized for my intrusion and replaced the front door to his little hole that I had inadvertently dug up. A much less welcome sight than the toad was an absolutely massive wolf spider that I spotted on a clump of shale I had been just about to pick up. On my way back to my car I finally spotted the pack of hogs that been so kind as to create a trail through the woods for me to follow on my first trip. I gave them a wide berth and continued on my way. This site has become one of my favorites, not only because of what I've found there but because I discovered it on my own after a lot of geologic map studying and old paper reading. I can finally say I understand Jared's Eagle Ford obsession! Until next time, - Graham

I decided to call out of work for my birthday and hit the beach to do some hunting. I kayaked out about 2hrs before low tide and had the beach all to myself the whole day. Found three dolphin teeth right after I landed my kayak, good sign for the day. Found some big hemis and a pretty chub on the walk, then when I got to my kayak I noticed the big shark vert partially buried right next to it! Definitely a better way to spend my birthday than working!

Hey forum! No long story this time- it was New Years Day and I decided to hit up my special Eagle Ford spot off the beaten path to start the year off. That day was of my most productive creek crawling adventures in this specific spot yet! I’m already focused on pursuing my education goals this year as well. First: I want to show off my new exciting lucky shark tooth hunting shirt! I drew, on digital, “Prehistoric Sharks of Texas” and slapped it onto a tee. The tag is my autograph printed on the back of the neck which feels surreal! The teeth were hand-drawn by me over layers of photos from my own personal shark tooth collection except the Ptychodus occidentalis. I couldn’t NOT post it here! *It’s not yet available to the public- this shirt is the first test run. I thought my fellow Cretaceous & Texas shark hunters here might enjoy this! (Shhhh but there’s one Permian tooth on there! I plan on making an all-Cretaceous shark one too) First Ptychodus of the year! A gorgeous example of a Ptychodus whipplei I kept popping them out of the gravel bar, one after another: Some lovely Scapanorhynchus r. and Cretolamna a. anterior finds as well! This last one is a rather unusual one! Smooth looking piece. I have an idea but any thoughts from those more experienced is most appreciated as I’m still always learning. Haul of Ptychodus from a little under 2 hours- that’s including “walking time.” I wish I had more sunlight to burn! Some other finds: Very neat tumbled marine reptile bones! Baby shark doo-doo! I’m always a sucker for a good goblin! Third favorite shark of all time…literally. Possibly a Scapanorhynchus r. lateral tooth. Has two small accessory cusplets on each side! Interesting enough is that the tooth is very smooth like a Cretolamna. A lot of my other smaller ones however have striations you can see and feel. Super neat & near complete Cretodus crassidens next to a Scapanorhynchus raphiodon anterior! Cretodus is the big bad tooth in the center of my tee! I don’t collect points but this is my first find in this super specific area. I already gave it away to someone I knew wanted it! Unfortunately for them when I found it, it was broken diagonally near the bottom right but they were still ecstatic. BEST FIND: So as soon as I found this, I *immediately* messaged the first & smartest person to mind that I felt the most confident in asking/trusting for a second opinion. We both came to an agreement this looks a lot like a mosasaur tooth! DAYS ago I finally got a Tylosaurus tooth from Ozan (I forgot to add that hunt day to my other thread- opps!) and it looks just too similar for me to think this is a Pachyrhizodus or another predatory fish tooth. The root cavity too makes me think so as a lot of my other mosasaur teeth have that. It screams “marine reptile” at me. If anyone also wants to chime in with thoughts- please do so! Any info to ID species of stray mosasaur teeth, particularly found in the US, would also be very helpful! Im sure someone here could also find that information helpful in the future. I know there’s “facets” and striations to look for in particular species. Additional tooth pictures: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed Until next time I head back to my prehistoric beach, ya’ll remember to take care & enjoy life. Happy 2023! -Larí R.

Hello! My name is Gabe, and I am new to TFF, but I have some shark teeth that I have trouble identifying. Unfortunately, I was not the person who discovered these, but I bought them in a "random fossils and gems" bucket in Gatlinburg, TN. I know the items in the bucket does not come just from the local sites, so ultimately they could be from almost anywhere. I apologize that this will not be much help, and also, I apologize if any of these are not considered fossils, and therefore should not be posted here. Additionally, due to the storage limit for photos, I will do multiple parts with more shark teeth; these are the smallest ones. Tooth 1: 1.1cm L, .9cm W, .25cm D Front (Measured) Front Back Right Side^ Left Side^ Top^ Tooth 2: 1.4cm L, 1.3cm W, .33cm DFront (Measured)^ Front Back Right Side^ Left Side^ Top^ Tooth 3: 1.35cm L, 1cm W, .3cm D Front (Measured)^ Front Back Right Side^ Left Side^ Top^ Tooth 4: 1.25cm L, .65cm W, .4cm D Front (Measured) Front Back Right Side^ Left Side^ Top Thank you for looking at these photos, and I appreciate anyone who responds to this post. If you have any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them. Gabe-Paleo_Man450

This is a tooth I found in Northwest Kansas (Graham Co.). It is 100 percent complete. It looks like nothing I have ever seen before. It has cerrated edges which leads me to believe it is Squalicorax Sp. but I am not sure because of its odd and blunt shape.

I recently purchased a sharks tooth from florida. I believe it is from the miocene epoch. Although it doesn't look like it in the picture, it has cerrated edges. (don't mind my bad camera)

Kayaked out early this morning and had the beach all to myself. The water was a little rough when I got there but by the time low tide had come around the bay flattened out and the water cleared up. I found some Hemis with some real nice size, and got really lucky with 3 cow shark teeth. Then the usual spread of teeth and a nice little retroflexus. Great day out on the bay!

Here are a few photos of my entire collection spread out in my living room between 3 seperate tables and separated by groups; Table #1 Crocodilians, Theropod Dinosaurs, Marine Mammals and Marine Reptiles. Table #2 77 Different Shark Teeth Species. Table #3 Amphibians and Reptiles, Miscellaneous Fossils and Fish.

On Wednesday, November 30th, I took yet another trip to my micromorph spot in the Graysonites wacoense Zone of the Grayson Marl Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Lower Cenomanian, ~97mya), laterally equivalent to the Waco Pit in the Del Rio Fm. further south. This time I focused mainly on looking for shark teeth which was a massive success, and I ended up finding a few new species to add to my faunal list for this location as well. The first find of the day was this nice small lateral Cretalamna catoxodon (Otodontidae) shark tooth, the most common shark species at this site: Ex situ: My second Haimirichia amonensis (Haimirichiidae) from the site: Ex situ: Cretalamna catoxodon (Otodontidae) with a broken root: Cretalamna catoxodon (Otodontidae) with a broken crown: Ophiura graysonensis (Ophiuridae) brittlestar arm fragment: Pagurus banderensis (Paguridae) hermit crab claw, new for the site: Ex situ: Crateraster "sp. A" Blake & Reid, 1998 (Goniasteridae) starfish fragment, an unnamed species close to C. texensis, new to the site: Ex situ: One of three similar fish vertebra: Small Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Cretalamna catoxodon (Otodontidae) tooth: Ex situ: Another C. catoxodon (Otodontidae): Ex situ: Squalicorax sp. nov. (Anacoracidae) shark tooth, an unnamed species known from the Grayson/Del Rio Formation of Texas: Cretalamna catoxodon (Otodontidae) with a chipped crown: Ex situ: Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Another of the same undescribed Squalicorax (Anacoracidae): Ex situ: Graysonites wacoense (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite nucleus: Shark vertebra: A couple more Ophiura graysonensis (Ophiuridae) brittlestar arm fragments: Enchodus sp. (Enchodontidae) fish fang: Ex situ: Most common fossil at this site, a progenic dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: And finally an ex situ photo of a few Parasmilia graysonensis (Caryophyliidae) coral:

I took a fossil finding guided tour last month and now I'm pretty much hooked! If someone could please help with identifying these. Found them a couple days ago sifting in a creek in central NJ.

Several months ago I took a summer vacation to road trip through several states while collecting fossils along the way. I’ve finally managed to organize, clean, and photograph my finds and figured I’d share some pictures and info about my trip here. My first stop was Venice, Florida. I started with some sifting at the beach and was able to collect a variety of teeth and other fossils. Here’s a sunset at Venice Beach: And the finds: I had good luck with finding a bunch of nice burr fish mouth plates

I got some shark teeth and ammonite a couple month ago help me identify it please Shark teeth is from northern part of africa ammonite have no idea about it

Hello, my name is Dave and I'm a new fossil hunter from Maryland, USA. I have always been interested in fossils, in fact - when I was a young kid I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up... that didn't quite pan out. I created this account in 2013 so something must have rekindled my interest at that time - but this is my first post. My interest has been yet again rekindled over the past month or two and I have developed an obsession with shark tooth hunting. I have been fossil hunting a total of 4 times in my adult life - all within the last month - and I've had some great finds including 2 megalodon teeth (well, one was a chubitensis I think). Shark tooth hunting has been just about all I can think about for the last month and I have done a lot of lurking on this site. I thought it was time I made my first post and introduced myself. None of my friends have an interest in fossil hunting so I thought I could meet some people with similar interests. If anyone is looking for a fossil hunting buddy in Maryland please reach out! I live close to the Calvert Cliffs and have 2 kayaks that I use to get from spot to spot - I'd love to go hunting with someone who has a little more experience. I'm planning to spend a lot of time on the beaches during the upcoming winter. My other primary interest is kayak fishing in the local area - I would be happy to trade some fishing knowledge/spots for fossil hunting knowledge/spots In my mind I see a lot of parallels between fishing and fossil hunting and it is no surprise why both appeal to me. Not too long ago I ran across this quote about fishing and it really resonated with me, I think it applies completely to fossil hunting too: "The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope". Hopefully this is an acceptable introduction post, and thanks for reading. One of these days I'll try to put together a few trip reports so I can be a contributing member instead of just a lurker Thanks, Dave

Good afternoon, Went shark tooth hunting today in lower Alabama to find Eocene age shark teeth and found this. Buried in the same layer and is very fragile, not sure if it is a fossil but definately organic. What do you guys think??

Took a quick trip to Folly Beach in South Carolina this weekend and I was able to do some nice collecting. A lot of smalls but a couple nice sized teeth (sorry for using US quarter for size. Several Sand Tiger Shark teeth, a couple of Tiger Shark teeth, maybe one Hemi. The larger specimens are what I believe to be a Great White and a Shortfin Mako. The Mako specimen doesn't have any cusps so I'm not 100% sure. As for the long thin specimens I'm looking at ray plate partials? Any feedback is always appreciated.

Hello, here are some pics of my finds from Whiskey Bridge that I did earlier this year. I really enjoy this site as to the variety of fossils to be found and the nice preservation of them. First one is: Rotularia lepstostoma (worm tube) I thought it was a funky gastropod until I looked it up.

Some finds from the sand of the river. Measured in mm.