Search the Community

I've recently moved to coastal South Carolina in the Charleston area. I've also recently discovered the fun of hunting for shark teeth. On my last shark tooth hunting expedition I came across this interesting piece as I was searching a local beach. I think it may be a stingray mouth plate and would like someone to confirm my suspicion. Maybe it isn't even a fossil.... it is in spectacular condition and that makes me wonder/doubt it is. Any help is appreciated.

Picked up on Myrtle Beach today. I've seen stingray mouth plates before and this reminds me of that, but they were always small detached pieces with the vertical lines - never inside something bigger. So maybe this is something else? A piece of shell maybe? Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks! Paula

Hi! I just found this and I’m thrilled... I think it’s extremely rare. Can anyone shed some light? I know it’s a Ray dental plate

A few weeks ago I was on a hunt and picked up a few nice Isaurus sp. teeth, some hemi's and seen some bone frags. I saw this sticking out of the mud at river's edge and figured it was more than just a bone but it was completely covered in mud. My eyes trained for teeth, I put it in a bag and continued on. When I got it home, I ran water over it and the small teeth started to be revealed. I couldn't believe it. I am not an expert by any means, but I assume its a fish mouth plate? From looking online, I don't see where it would be a drum. I have found individual drum and other oval fish teeth, but nothing complete like this or the round shape of these teeth. You can even see the replacement teeth in the bone in the photo where the ruler is horizontal. Two of the photos look the same, but in one, the fossil is laying on the teeth, and the other is a side view, if that helps. I spent the last few days searching online but couldn't find anything that specifically gives light to this. There is a small chip on the bottom in the center where the shade is darker, so it may be missing a small portion in that area (seen in the side view). Thank you for any information!

Hi, Looking for a little help identifying this small fossil. I found it in the Peace River, Florida at the weekend. There were plenty of stingray and pufferfish mouth plates along with turtle shell, but this looked a little different. It has the hallmarks of a fish mouthplate but would love some help. It's about half an inch. Thanks for your help as always. Tom