Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'whale shark teeth'.
-
I usually don’t post a single tooth, but the rarity and colors of this Palaeorhincodon tooth make it worthwhile to post. The tooth came from Eocene matrix from Virginia that I collected a few weeks ago from what I call a “funky” layer. This layer is very hard and contains lots of minerals. The minerals were probably introduced by groundwater seepage eons ago. Most teeth in this layer can have really funky enamel but a few have decent enamel and great colors like this tooth. I usually don’t take this layer because of the funky teeth but a little of it got mixed in with the good layer that I normally take. This tooth is blue, white and black with golden pyrite (fool’s gold) on the root. I believe the tooth is a Palaeorhincodon daouii. Pictures of a 53 million year old tooth (3.5 mm): For comparison below are pictures of an extant Rhincodon typus (Whale Shark) (4 mm) tooth: Although there are a number of differences in the features of the two teeth, the most obvious is the strong cusplets on the Palaeorhincodon. Marco Sr.
- 19 replies
-
- 6