Identification
Cretoxyrhina teeth are simple in design, having a triangular crown with smooth enamel and non-serrate edges, a thin lingual dental band, rounded root lobes, a lingual root protuberance, and no nutrient groove.1,2
Comments
This tooth is from a latero-posterior position, given the crown's distal curvature. The chalk preserved this tooth very well - the enamel retains a sharp gloss comparable to that on modern sharks' teeth.
References
1. Bourdon, Jim, and Michael J. Everhart. “Analysis of an Associated Cretoxyrhina Mantelli Dentition from the Late Cretaceous (Smoky Hill Chalk, Late Coniacian) of Western Kansas.” Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science (1903-), vol. 114, no. 1/2, 2011, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41309622.
2. Shimada, Kenshu. “Dentition of the Late Cretaceous Lamniform Shark, Cretoxyrhina Mantelli, from the Niobrara Chalk of Kansas.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1997, pp. 269–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4523806.