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After the Hybodontids, our program starts to transition toward the modern sharks. We introduce lamniform sharks and the cow sharks. We will not be able to spend much time at all on the Cow and Crow Sharks. They only get a brief introduction and a look at the teeth. Squalicorax is an important species for us even though we do not spend a lot of time on it. The students in first few classes we do presentations for will be going home with Squalicorax teeth from Morocco. We would like to spend more time on the Cow sharks eventually but we only have one tooth to show them and we will have to edit content to free up space for them but I will work on that down the road. The primary focus in this section is Scapanorhynchus. The first shark art Carter did was a Goblin and we do give them a lot of time in the presentaton. They look cool and have been around for a long time. We present the kids with a nice assortment of teeth and some cool science. The teeth were important adaptations for catching fish and the snout had the ampullae of Lorenzini for sensing changes in the electro magnetic fields around them. We compare this to the modern hammerhead which we do not cover in the program but gives the kids a sense of how the adaptations of hammerheads work. We also talk about fin structure and being able to tell they were slow swimmers. The extend-o-matic jaw is another adaptation we cover with this species. I am happy with the fossil representations for now though I really want to add more Cow Shark fossils at some point and Anomotodon would also be a good addition. The fossils for the presentation.. Pic 1 Hexanchus andersoni from STH. I know H. andersoni should chronologically fit later but Cow Sharks fit here and this is the only one we have for now. Pic 2- Squalicorax pristodontus from Morocco. This is our largest Squalicorax tooth. The kids will get these teeth to take home so while we do not spend a lot of time on them, the teeth are very important to the program. Pic 3- Scapnorhynchus texanus and Scapanorhynchus puercoensis. Our nice little Goblin Shark display with some of our best teeth. Two of the texanus teeth are over 1.5 inches and the puercoenisis teeth are uncommon I believe and pretty super cool.

Here are two teeth from a fairly recently (2011) described Scapanorhynchus species from the Upper Cretaceous Santonian in New Mexico. Scapanorhynchus puercoensis has a dentition similar to S. lewisii and was likely very similar. My son and I do classroom science presentations about fossils and our shark program features Scapanorhynchus. He used the lewisii as the basis for his illustration and now we can actually provide teeth that are a closer match to that than S. texanus likely was. This also allows him to draw S. texanus in a more Sand Tiger like form which we both think it was. I put quite a bit of research in our programs and we strive for accuracy so I am really digging these teeth !!!

So we finally made it out to GMR to do some hunting. We left Greensboro about 7 am and arrived around 9:15. We walked around for a little bit to scout some areas, and finally found a good starting point. It was slow at first, but we started making really good progress when I found a 2" goblin shark tooth. We continued on throughout most of the day finding tooth, after tooth, after tooth... We found several Meg fragments, some super nice great whites, mako's, 3 mosasaur teeth (the smaller round one might possibly be a crocodile but were not 100% sure), and quite a few belimnites. After we finished for the day we stopped by @powelli1's house so he could check out some of our finds. He's a great guy and has an absolutely amazing fossil collection. When I say he has 15,000 fossils in one room, I'm not exaggerating whatsoever... He helped confirm the ID's of some of our finds, and was kind enough to give us a tour of his collection in the process. After heading home we decided to photograph some of the nicer finds and count everything we brought back. All together we had 944 shark teeth, 3 mosasaur (except if that smaller round one is not a mosasaur tooth), 1 unidentified fish tooth, and 59 belimnites. Here's some photos of everything we found today.

Hello, everyone. One thing is for sure. Paleocene shark teeth from Purse State Park are difficult to identify. Many of them appear nearly identical to another species, and if the teeth are worn, identification is next to impossible. While I was sorting (or at least attempting to sort) my 600+ teeth from my trip to Purse, I was finding that the vast majority of my teeth were either Striatolamia or Carcharias. While this is normal for the area because these species are among the most abundant, it seemed that I didn't have a single specimen of what is apparently another common find: Goblin Shark teeth. According to fossilguy.com, as well as phatfossils.com, Anomotodon novus was a species of Goblin Shark that was alive during the Paleocene Era, and its teeth are commonly found along the Potomac River's Paleocene fossil sites. Why is it that I just could not seem to identify one? Apparently, they look very similar to the species of Sand Tiger, but their defining feature is that the cutting edge extends onto the root, in a sort of "enamel shoulder." Some of my finds had flattened or rounded cusps, but no obvious continuation of the cutting edge. I was frustrated because with a find that is said to be common, you'd expect to find at least 1 in 600. After sorting through the finds from Purse, I moved in chronological order to my Brownie's Beach trip with my dad on the day after Christmas. My dad didn't have the most productive day at the site, and only found 20 or 30 teeth, but they were some cool finds. There was one in particular that caught my attention. It looked a bit like a Sand Tiger, but its cutting edge extended onto the root. I was stunned. I have never seen any mention of Goblin Shark teeth in the Calvert Cliffs, or any Miocene exposure for that matter. I'm assuming that A. novus went extinct between the Paleocene and Miocene but I could be wrong. Obviously there were other species of Goblins alive, but the reason I think it's A. novus is that when I've looked at pictures of teeth from all different kinds of extinct Goblins, this tooth is nearly identical to that specific species. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that there actually are Goblins in the Calvert Cliffs because they yield over 200 different species, but I am just confused because I've never seen them on any identification website or trip report from the Cliffs. I've posted three pictures of the tooth below. The first with a tape measure reference shows the lingual side of the tooth, the second is the labial, and the third is a close up shot (that I took with my super cool clip-on macro lens) of one of the enamel shoulders. Here's what I'd like to know. Is this tooth from a species of Goblin Shark? If so, is it A. novus or a different species that was alive during the Miocene? Also, (less important, but still would be helpful) how can I distinguish Goblin Shark teeth from the Sand Tiger species at Purse State Park? Are they less common than I believed? As always, help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

hi everyone another fun day with finds from big brook nj....can someone id the object in single pick in hand and also does anyone know whats the biggest goblin tooth found here....thanks