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I know that I went hunting yesterday. My neck and back muscles are screaming at me. We go to places we have visited before... In this case, some sort of coral reef or shell bed that was laid down , most likely in the Pliocene. Steve, who worked in the Phosphate mines said that there were 3 layers of shell beds in Bone Valley mines where he worked. Land mammal remains between the shell layers. In some locations, the Peace River has brought those layers close to the surface. I call this location wonderland. When ever I go there ... I wonder.. I wonder what layer I am finding.. Pliocene ? Miocene, whatever the 1st layer is... I wonder what process created what I see.... I went back in TFF to find that I have not revisited this location in more than 2 years. Back to the yesterday, A Barnacle.... This is solid rock... or blended silica with sand , mud , shell ..I wonder if the Barnacle "shell" filled with sand or mud and the silica transformed the whole thing to rock, sand mud , everything.. and I always wonder about the process details... Shells..... ..I wonder if we can identify the shells because that might tells us if there were Pliocene or Miocene.... I wonder about the process details... This is not hard fossilized rock like the barnacle... This is like mud rock,, that would break or crumble pretty easily So the shells existed on the bottom of the ocean, the ocean receded, Peace River brings in fresh water, somehow it is making mud-rock (which is common in many forms)... the shell sticks to the mud rock, then the silicification comes along changing the shells ,not the mud-rock., and the whole thing gets worn down until I pick it up.... Shell # 1 2nd Shell ..The rock weighs 40-50 pounds... a heavy item on the trip back in my kayak..Is this whole bivalve there ? Was this one transformed to Silica.... I wonder ... I also find botryoidal chalcedony, some bigger... some smaller. I think this formed in a "cave" in a echinoid sand dollar... Finally for those who appreciate more traditional Florida fossils, I found some of these also. Really like this tooth, it exihibits serrations with feeding damage and those CUSPS !!!... I wonder if if cusps on Megs is only true of Pliocene Megs. I am sad to say that it looks like the chipped the root on recovery. I guess what it comes down to is I am a wondering kind of guy....Enjoy

The Chondricthyans (including the sharks and rays) have been around and keeping the ocean's ecosystems healthy for about 420 Million Years. Today, in celebration of this, I've decided to do a little fun post and list the eight times in Earth's history truly massive chondricthyans have emerged. Hope you all enjoy!!! The First is the Devonian, where there is at least one confirmed fossil (CMNH 5238) of a large currently unnamed Ctenacanthiform shark that reached lengths of 4.2-5 meters (13-16 feet) in length. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/3/318 The Second is the Mississippian stage of the Carboniferous (358.9-323.2 Million Years ago), a golden age for chondricthyans. The Early Carboniferous saw the emergence of Giant Ctenacanthiform sharks like Saivodus striatus, which grew up to 10-11 meters (32-36 feet) in length. https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-of-the-month_2022-07_Saivodus.php https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-of-the-month_2022-07_how-big.php https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/fossils-of-the-2023-national-fossil-day-artwork.htm The Third is the Pennsylvanian stage of the Carboniferous (323.2-298.9 Million Years ago). Like the Mississippian, the Pennsylvanian was also a golden stage for Chondricthyans where large Ctenacanthiforms continued to thrive and large Eugeneodontida edestoids like Edestus (which could grow up to 6.7 meters (22 feet) in length) emerged. Large Ctenacanthiforms from this time include the unnamed Graham Formation Gilkmanius sp., which grew up to 7 meters (22 feet) in length. https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-vertebrate-paleontology/volume-37/issue-3/02724634.2017.1325369/A-Pennsylvanian-Supershark-from-Texas/10.1080/02724634.2017.1325369.short The Fourth is the Permian (298-252 Million years ago). There were some large sharks, like the Ctenacanthiform Kaibabvenator (which grew up to 4.8-5.48 meters (16-18 feet) in length). But Eugeneodontida by this point contained the largest Chondricthyans alive at this time including Helicoprion (which grew up to 7.6 meters (25 feet) in length) and Parahelicoprion (which could grow up to 12 meters (36 feet) in length). https://www.academia.edu/29941296/Chondrichthyan_and_actinopterygian_remains_from_theLower_Permian_Copacabana_Formation_of_Bolivia https://doi.org/10.1002%2Far.24046 The Fifth is the Early Cretaceous (145-100 Million Years ago). Though the time's aquatic ecosystems was dominated by large marine reptiles, large sharks managed to emerge and fill ecological niches from time to time. This includes the Early Cretaceous Shark Leptostyrax, which grew up to 6.3 meters (20 feet) in length. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277782424_A_Gigantic_Shark_from_the_Lower_Cretaceous_Duck_Creek_Formation_of_Texas The Sixth is the Late Cretaceous (100-66 Million years ago). Aquatic ecosystems still were dominated by marine reptiles, but large sharks were indeed present. This includes Cretodus crassidens (which grew up to 9-11 meters (29-36 meters) in length) and Ptychodus (which grew up to 10 meters (32 feet) in length). https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231544 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/morphology-and-paleobiology-of-the-late-cretaceous-largesized-shark-cretodus-crassidens-dixon-1850-neoselachii-lamniformes/A670012A44DDC68FC098BB8C73368408 The seventh is the Miocene-Early Pilocene (23-3.6 Million Years ago). This period saw the rise and reign of some of the largest sharks known currently in the fossil record, including Carcharocles (Otodus) megalodon (which grew up to 17 meters (55 feet) in length). https://www.uv.es/everlab/PUBLICACIONES/2017/2017 Martinez-Perez et al HB miocene sharks.pdf https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abl6529 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9385135/ The eighth is the Early Pliocene-Late Pleistocene (3.6-0.012 Million Years ago). This period saw the last remnants of the large 20 foot + in size carnivorous sharks from the Miocene-Pilocene mega shark era not including the non-Great White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and not including the large plankton eating sharks make their final stand. These include Hemipristis serra (which grew up to 6 meters (20 feet) in length) and Parotodus benedeni (which grew up to 7.6 meters (24 feet) in length). https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app63/app004542018.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364591134_A_previously_overlooked_highly_diverse_early_Pleistocene_elasmobranch_assemblage_from_southern_Taiwan https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/chondrichthyan-fossil-record-of-the-florida-platform-eocenepleistocene/2835CCEC27DC8EE0B24A5B62B1416618 I hope this is helpful?

Hi everyone! In an online auction I found this shark tooth. It is indicated as "Otodus megalodon tooth", found in West Java, Indonesia. Unfortunately there are no further details on the provenance. The shape looks very different than typical Megalodon teeth, but I admit I'm not an expert. Could it be another species of Otodus genus?

Hi, I went to the fleamarket and bought these. One is some kind of shark tooth, the other a crocodile tooth from the miocene I believe. What do you think?

Out with friends, going to a Miocene site that always is challenging for me to go and return. It is a Miocene site because the large majority of fauna found live during that era. It did not disappoint. I started in the 1st sieve with a Meg, somewhat distressed and puncture marks from a bite during a feeding frenzy... Note the 3 bite marks on the lower edge. This is my 4th such Meg There were many finds but one certainly rarer in the Peace River than Megs is a lower Mako in good shape, with a lighting strike on the labial side.. This is my 3rd of this size in 15 years. So, what about the request for Identifications. Here is one... This Dolphin Tooth has not been identified for Florida.... and certainly not for species.. Last time I found it , we discussed Harry's GREAT picture that is the best identification out there for teeth that look like this....If someone has a good research paper on Kentriodontidae teeth that matches these two teeth I have found, please point me to it... Here is my previous version: Here was a thread that asked for an ID on a similar tooth from Maryland, but the ID was "Dolphin" tooth... So finally, something to ID.. To show how my luck was holding, I went over to a pile of discard rocks from a previous hunter of this site . Unbelievably this was sitting on top... I have never seen one like this... Th first photo seems 3/4 Stingray denticle and 1/4 trilobite. I have plenty of these that are flat on the bottom, and found 2 or 3 today. But this is unusual for me in Florida. Is this shape common in Maryland or North Carolina ? It almost looks like a druzy or silification in the center of this last photo.. Thanks for looking.

Dear all, I have recently encountered a very good deal on the tooth attached below. However, the deal is too good so I wonder, is it a fake or is there a chance for it to be real. Deal is around (price removed) for a 10.5 cm tooth Thank you for your help Best

Hi everyone! I've been reading a bit about Megalodon's ancestors and trying to update my knowledge and I'm coming across some conflicting information. It seems everywhere I look has a different age range and there seems to be a debate between the genus. Some use Carcharocles and some use Otodus. I've been using Carcharocles for the lineage, is that officially out of date? Also what are the age ranges of the ancestors Auriculatus, Angustidens, and Chubutensis? I can't find any consistent numbers and some places seem to suggest they coexisted (Auriculatus with Angustidens for a short time then later Angustidens with Chubutensis etc.) is that true? Any insight is appreciated as always!

I want to buy this Megalodon Shark Tooth, and I want to know if this is real or not. Can someone help me please? Apparently it's real with no restorations done.

Usually, I go with 2 other fossil hunters. One was sick , so just the two today. well, just 2 humans. We have a gator at this location, not unusual on the Peace. I (and most people) tend to over estimate the size of gators, but he/she is big enough to cause concern. I normally take an 8 foot surveyors pole to the river, so that I can stake out my kayak where ever I dig. It has a steel point and could be used for other purposes. On this day, I also chose to strap a 6 inch titanium dive knife to my right leg. Make me feel better, like I'm prepared for eventualities. Today we arrived at 7:30 am in the pouring rain. Rain does not make all that much difference. After all, we are hunting in a river, we get wet even if it does not rain. The forecast accurately predicted it would stop at 10 am. Arrived home late. and do not have time to sort and photo all my finds, but I selected 3 For my fossil Q&A. A Meg... this was my only one close to whole... I like cusps. Also feeding damage , I think, on the tip. It is a little hard to tell, but this meg (root tip to tip and slant length are both 10.5 mm).. had a brown root , green blade with a yellow band on the blade closest to the root. The Peace is a black water river. Q1. What does that tell you about this Meg? Next up ... a 19.5 mm canine. I think it is likely raccoon.. The Peace is a black water river. Q2) Can I tell the difference between a fossilized canine form 20000 years ago , or a modern one that has been in the river for the last year ? A 3rd find that really made me want to ask questions... Mostly because I do not know much about fossilized wood I find in the river. Q3. The Peace is a black water river. Why is this fossil not black. Q4. I think I have found this pattern previously. It might be a Liana vine. @Harry Pristis has a GREAT picture and might know.... What ever it is, I only find small pieces... Is it more likely to be broken pre_fossilization or post_fossilization into these smaller chunks ? Q5 is about the more likely process. Lots of wood falls into the river and stays there. Some of that wood rots but things like ceder and cypress do not. Does a likely process involve a vine falling into the water, settling to the bottom, covered by sand and mud, and having heavily mineralized water seep thru for 10000 years? or something else ? All comments appreciated, Jack

Another great day in the sunshine with friends. Kayaking in a slow current, finding chest deep water, sun shining, a few drops of rain. The deep water is aerobic exercise for me, really helps my back both during and after. We were in 2 locations. One was chest deep , finding mostly small shark teeth. I think there are a couple of Tiger shark parasymphyseals/symphyseals there, some nice Hemis/Tigers...and one of my friends found the beat_up Horse tooth and asked if I thought it was pre_Equus. I said I was not sure but I would give someone on TFF an opportunity to answer. @Meganeura Have you looked at enough fossettes and plications to hazard a guess on Equus or not? Slight variation on angle for 2nd photo We hunting the morning at the 1st spot, and after eating lunch, I headed downstream to a place we had hunted extensively and friends avoided because it was "hunted" out. But I had some great memories there of black enamel, black rooted megs, and I could bask in the memories hunting old locations... My 1st sieve had the 2.5 inch Meg !!! Nothing better than Luck. There was a top layer of 4-6 inches of gravel.. I quickly picked up a piece of fossilized, a large dolphin vert, the process of a dugong Vert to join the Meg. The detail on all of these is excellent, meaning no water erosion for a couple of million years. Tells me a lot about where they came from.....A photo of the Meg taken on the river... I am trying to identify that toe bone or hoof core.....it only has 3 sides to photo.... 1st photo has an articulation, last photo is concave, middle photo convex. @PODIGGER Jim, I am hoping that you can help me here. Seems like you see a lot of bones... Which way is down ? Which way is up? Thanks Jack

Quick question. How little can megalodon teeth be? I ask, because I have heard about "baby megs" previously, but don't recall seeing much discussion about them. I was looking through my tupperware container of small shark teeth and I ran across a tiny megalodon that I had not noticed previously. I probably thought it was a bull at a glance and tossed it in with the other common teeth. Now I am thinking I might need to examine my little "common" teeth more closely. Which led me to think of a couple of other considerations : 1) How small can megs get? 2) How common are "baby megs" compared to larger examples? 3) Do smaller teeth have the same serrations from the start, or do the serrations develop later when the teeth are larger? I don't have a photo handy of my little meg tooth, but will post one later this evening in this thread. Thanks in advance!

Around six months ago, I began my beginner apprenticeship and collection on the megalodon. Like many others, I researched the potential size of these teeth and discovered that those above 6 inches (15.3cm) to a maximum of 7 inches (18cm) were quite rare. Therefore, I decided to stick to teeth below 5.5 inches (14cm) both to fit my budget and to avoid any potential mistakes. But I was intrigued if it was conceivable to find a gigantic tooth larger than 7 inches in length. I did save an online auction site listing from an Indonesian merchant who was auctioning off "monstrous" massive teeth. The vendor was auctioning off two of these gigantic sizes, one measuring 12 inches (30.5cm) and the other at 12.6 inches (32.1cm), of which I bookmarked the latter. I had entirely forgotten about the tooth and whether it had been sold several months ago because I am not an avid online auction site user. I became intrigued today and visited my bookmarked online auction site history to see that the 12.6 inch tooth had really sold for $$$$. (attached images). Therefore, I am curious about the authenticity of such a tooth. How realistic would it be in the first place, and how much of it is actually fake? Thank you

I want to buy this Megalodon Shark Tooth, and I want to know if this is real or not. Can someone help me please? Apparently it's real with no restorations done. Found while diving approximately 40 miles off the coast of southeastern North Carolina.

Even though my muscles were sore and my tendons/ligaments were overused from hunting on Saturday, I had committed to a Peace River hunt yesterday. and a commitment , after all, is a commitment. So there I was at 7:30 am, launching from a Peace River Bridge with a couple of friends. It was bound to be a difficult day. The best location in the general area of where we chose to hunt was covered with softball (and up) sized boulders and had been heavily hunted by people who knew what they were doing. The boulders are the advantage. As we get storms and hurricanes, it moves gravel and fossils downstream. The fossils/gravel falls between the cracks in the boulders. All you have to do is remove the boulders. You won't find much, but usually for me , it is worth the effort, which turned out to be a little over 5 hours of shoveling boulders... So, the "everything" photo.... Pretty sparse, Up in the left corner rocks or overly worn osteoderms, In the right upper corner, marine mammal (2 broken whale bulla, 2 broken dolphin bulla, a frag of dolphin jaw bone, and an overly worn dolphin periotic) all a pleasure to find..I will be able to ID that periotic) Do the small whale bulla imply small whales ? maybe 10 feet at birth.... Right lower corner , an old glass fuse... Does anyone still make them? Lower left a couple of horse teeth, and a process from a dugong vert... These will go into a zip lock and donated at my next fossil club meeting with most of the small teeth. For the sharp eyed ones who spotted it in the "everything photo", my find of the day... Took a long time to get to : What am I trying to Identify .... A bone and possibly from the 1st photo, a toe bone or hoof core.... Size approximately L 30 x H 25 x W 20 mm. Thanks to all. Jack

Hello, I posted a front and back pic of two teeth. They are alot larger than the average teeth I have . The smaller one is about 3/4 " . I wondered if anyone could Identify. Also its not very pointed . Thank you ahead . mark

Hi there, I am hoping some experts could help me determine if this tooth is real or not. I did some research and it appears to be a megalodon tooth (possible fake?) from the Pungo River Formation. I found it at a thrift shop and my Fiance was pretty annoyed I would spend so much on a fake tooth. It is odd to find at a thrift shop/red cross so that is why i am asking as well... Curious what you guys think this could be worth if you in fact think it is real.. i measure the longest point from the tip to the root edge at just over 5.5" (its difficult to show this in a picture). As a non-expert, I feel this could be real as it is fairly heavy, it does not seem like something cast in a single mold, the coloring is imperfect like it is natural and there are alot of different textures. The root is rougher, the enamel is very smooth and the part under the enamel looks like what i would think as bone. Super curious what everyone thinks! My fiancé is not too happy about me spending [price removed] on a fake tooth... HELP!

Launch my kayak early this morning and got to the beach a little before sunrise. Hoping off my kayak I took maybe five steps and BOOM my find of the year! A 2 3/4” Squalodon! The sun hadn’t even created the water yet, I couldn’t believe it. I continued on only about 40 feet away from my kayak and I spotted a pretty little Meg tumbling in the wash. By the end of my walk I had found the normal array of teeth with a stunning Hastalis and nice Hemi and dolphin teeth to round out the trip. I’ve had some pretty good hunts this season but this is hands down my best!… So far…. PS: Squalodon whitmorei or Squalodon calvertensis?

Hi, it's not the first time that I see a whale fossil with megalodon bite marks. This one comes from Coastal Georgia and measures 7.5" With what percentage of certainty can you know that they are really megalodon marks and not random marks. Thanks!

While getting together some fossils for the rolling auction I came across this tooth I had bought a few years ago. I dug around on my folder of screenshots I take of fossils listings, so I don't forget what information the seller provides and it was pretty devoid of info. It was sold as a megalodon tooth. No location or any other info...yeah I know that would be handy... I assume but the looks of it, it probably came from the Carolinas or Florida. On to my observations. Seems to be no serrations on it. It looks like a nutrient pore in the center of the root on the lingal side...if I remember correctly meg's don't have that. Looking around on the internet I want to venture a guess of an anterior Carcharodon plicatilis tooth?

Since last year I’ve been to a commercial Bone Valley fossil operation in Wauchula for the best fossil hunting in Florida. They bring rich dirt from Bone Valley to Wauchula for people to find amazing fossils. The experience is unlike no other, it’s a dry dig, which means you do not get wet, you sift through the material exposing the most beautiful teeth and other fossils that have been preserved more than 2 million years. First 5 photos are some of my personal finds.

Hello all! I am from Michigan but vacationing in Emerald Isle, NC right now. I fossil hunt often in Michigan but North Carolina is brand new for me. I would love to hunt somewhere off the beaten path that is fossil rich either in a creek with gravel, a quarry, or anywhere else that is not super picked over. My main goal is to find a meg but I love finding any fossils really. I am planning a day trip to GMR but if anyone would be willing to share any tips or suggestions for other places (within 2 hours of emerald isle) that are meg tooth hotspots I would greatly appreciate it. If you prefer to PM that would be fine. Thanks in advance!!!

New to this forum having just found it today! Need help ID'ing the attached tooth. It was located North of Austin texas. Never had much opportunity to be in this area, until now. Stumbled (quite literally) on this in the very muddy fringes of a small creek which might help help explain the deterioration. Cant offer much more than that but hopefully someone can provide comments or a resource for reference from the pictures. Appreciate the help! IMG_0184 (2).HEICIMG_0183 (1).HEIC

I found these two teeth in Florida. They look like they could be Megalodon, but I’m having trouble identifying them. What are your thoughts??

Hunting yesterday, found an area of slightly larger teeth....It is not often that one location can yield Hemipristis, Mako, Megalodon and Great White. In the Peace River, GWs are really difficult to find and I am not positive about this one. Is this a GW or a Meg...? It sort of depends on whether you see a bourlette (or not) and how you see the symmetry of the serrations. There were a variety of Tiger (Aduncus, Contortous, Mayumbensis, and Cuvier), but no sand tigers.. Lots of Hemipristis and larger Lemons Also a camel_llama tooth...some Armadillo scutes, and two almost identical Capybara front teeth.... Digging next to me, my friend found this bone, and tossed it on the bank. I retrieved it thinking I might be able to get it identified.. The broken half bone is 2 x 2 x 3 and a possible carpal/tarpal, astragulas, calcaneum, etc of a megafauna like Rhino, Sloth, Bison, Proboscidien. A limited set of non_long bones. I think Daniel @Meganeuratracked down a Rhino Astragalus this way, and I also have the possibility that a TFF member may just recognize this 1st photo...

So doing a culmination of my last couple trips out - and the fossil gods were benevolent these past trips! Found my first and second bison teeth, a rhino astragalus, a decently sized, very pretty Meg, and a bunch of other things! So without further ado: Starting off with the shark’s teeth - 2.3” Meg, tiny little posterior Meg, and a pathological Carcharhinus tooth: The bison teeth - both 4th premolars, but one is an upper (left), and one is a lower (right): The rhino astragalus: 2 Horse teeth, tapir tooth crown, rodent incisor, fish jaw, and an orange burr fish mouthplate: Gator teeth, an orange Croc tooth, 2 gator osteoderms, and 2 gator verts (Tail, I think?): 1 Holmesina osteoderm, 1 Juvenile glyptodon, 2 broken glyptodon, 1 Dasypus Bellus flex osteoderm, and 1 Dasypus novemectus flex osteoderm: Big chunk of mammoth tooth: And the rest of my finds minus the shark teeth - including a hawk claw core, an unknown claw core, a toe bone, cetacean ear bones, mammoth frags, and some other stuff: Overall I had some awesome finds, and I know there’s gonna be plenty more where that came from!