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Sharktooth Hill Trip Report Part 1 – building the sifting table Hi everyone, After my first trip to Sharktooth Hill in June, I was hooked. I immediately started making plans to return and, this time I’d come better prepared. This forum has provided an amazing source of ideas and helpful people and inspired me to build a sifting table for my next trip to STH. A huge thanks to those who have helped me by answering questions, providing pictures and ideas, and helping me troubleshoot. I gathered as much info as I could and then tried to combine all the best ideas into one contraption to fit my needs. I’m excited to try this beast out next week! It’s big! The screen is 37.5” x 21” and the table stands about 4 feet tall but I will lower it if the height proves too high to load easily. I don’t want to sacrifice “wobbly-ness” though, because I’m hoping that’s going to do a lot of the sifting work for me. Plus, my son and I are 6’5” and 6’4” so a tall table should be ok. I used SCH 40 PVC and the 2 rectangular bases are glued while the 4 legs are removable to allow for compact storage/transport. In limited testing everything stayed together but I’ll bring some PVC glue with me in case I need to solidify it in the field. I'll also bring my PVC cutter for “disassembly” for the way home if need be. The bottom tier is ¼” mesh and has 6 “T” brackets to make sure it stays on top of the PVC frame. I bolted on a handle to allow it to be shaken one- or two-handed. There are no pointy parts on the inside (trying to avoid bleeding as much as I did on my last visit to STH). The top tier is ½” mesh and sits inside the bottom tier. Corner braces in the bottom tier (see above) allow the upper tier to sit low enough that it won’t dislodge but high enough that the contents can move freely across the bottom mesh. Initially I was disappointed that the large size and my inability to “tighten” that mesh caused it to sag noticeably once it was loaded up with soil. I remedied this with the addition of an adjustable bracket along the midpoint. But then when I put the top tier inside the bottom tier I realized I’d created a teeter-totter (doh!) and had to chisel out a groove on each side to allow it to fit in there. I’m very excited to go give it a try and I hope you all find this pre-trip report interesting. I’m happy to answer any questions and/or accept suggestions for improvement. And thanks again to all the helpful people on this forum whose previous pictures, design notes, and conversations encouraged me to attempt this (and make this post). I’ll send a follow up trip report after I get home. Cheers!

Hey everyone! Going to STH somewhat soon, I plan on going to Ernst quarries(or if anyone has any other sites they’d recommend), and was wondering if there were any tips anyone could give me, since This will be my first time. Also, are there safety instructions they give you when you get there?

I have here an alleged Carcharodon hastalis from Chile. It is 1.85" long and 1.12" wide. After receiving the tooth, it looked a lot more like Isurus planus to me. The other party insists it's Carcharodon hastalis. At the very least, they insist it comes from Chile. To the best of my knowledge, Isurus planus isn't found in Chile. I've never heard of it anyway. Two questions, then. Is this Hastalis or Planus? And if it is Planus, might it be Chilean? Thank you, Bellamy

We have our Secret Santa package all ready to go and just got done organizing our loose shark teeth. I found a bunch of STH material that I had set aside for a trade that never materialized. I totally forgot I had them so here they are. This is a package deal, I don’t want to split them up. Saves on shipping. This would make a cool Christmas gift for somebody and we aren’t asking much in return. Sharks- Carcharodon hastalis, Carcharodon planus, Galeocerdo, Physogaleus, Carcharhinus, Triakis, Galeorhinus, Mustelus, Sphyrna, Cetorhinus, Heterodontus, Squalus, Squatina, Batoids- Myliobatis, Dasyatis, Mobula, verts, denticles, partial stingray barb. None of the teeth are large. I believe the largest hastalis and planus are 1.5”. Very nice array of colors though. With Christmas around the corner, we’ll throw in some Cretaceous teeth from Russia too. My primary interest would be Heterodontus, Isurus (desori, oxyrinchus, retroflexus ) , scyliorhinus and other cstsharks but I’m open to any shark teeth except Moroccan stuff. PM us if you’re interested or you want a picture of something specific.

We know that fossils are not the priority for people at the moment. They are not for us either but I have found a good amount of stress relief in going through a large donation we got. The material is all from STH and we have enough to make a trade. It was part of the donation actually. Extra fossils for sale or for trade to improve our collection. I would like to avoid sales or doing smaller trades just for shipping reasons so I decided to put the trade stuff out as one lot. Given the current state of the world, consider this a post corona virus trade offer. We would probably not ship for 2-4 weeks if not a bit longer so we would not expect immediate shipping. Nobody needs to risk a trip to the post office. I did however want to put it out there. I think a little engagement among fossil nerds may be a good thing at this time We tried to put together a pretty decent representation of the shark and ray fauna plus a variety of colors. Miocene Temblor Formation, Round Mountain Silt Member Kern County, California Carcharodon hastalis- 8 teeth, variety of positions, variety of colors, none bigger than 1.5" Cosmopolitodus planus- 8 teeth, upper and lower, beautiful color array Isurus desori- 1 tooth Hemiprisitis serra- 1 symphyseal tooth Hexanchus andersonii- one partial tooth (I think upper) Heterodontus- 1 lateral tooth Physogaleus- 4 teeth Galeocerdo- 3 teeth Carcharhinus- 3 teeth Squatina Squalus Galeorhinus Included but not pictured- a couple of Cetorhinus teeth and a Mustelus tooth. Various Batoid fossils. We are open to any shark tooth offers but we do have some specific needs/wants. I listed them below. GW teeth Squaliformes- any family except Squalus Orectolobiformes- Hemiscyllium, Rhincodon, Ginglymostoma (Eocene & Cretaceous) Otodus sokolovi Isurus oxyrinchus and retroflexus some specific Cretaceous material- Cardabiodontid, Squatina, Ginglymostoma, Cretorectolobus, Odontaspis, Cantioscyllium, Cretoxyrhina PM us if you have any questions, need to see additional pictures, or want to make an offer.

What is the largest planus you have seen. I have 8 over 2 inches. My largest is 2.24 inches. Here is the photo.

Hello, Going through some teeth from Sharktooth Hill (Bakersfield) I found one tooth among my "C. planus" teeth that didn't look like the others. I'm wondering if it is natural variation, from a different part of the jaw, or from another species altogether. It has the characteristic curve of a C. planus upper, but is quite a bit narrower than all the others I collected. The pics attached show a "typical" C. planus on the left and the tooth in question on the right. Thanks!