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I am really excited about a project we have been working on. We decided to switch our shark displays from the ones based on Geological era to a taxonomic display style. We had been considering this since we made a similar switch with our dinosaurs. It has made those programs flow more easily and i think allowed the kids to get a better understanding of the animals. We originally set our displays up as they were because we simply did not have enough material to do taxonomic displays. There were a few orders of sharks for which we had only one or two fossils and one extinct order for which we had zero fossils. Doing the displays along a timeline allowed us to cover up the holes in the collection.

 

We have made a lot of improvements to our shark collection in the last year and were strongly considering changing things. A conversation with @siteseer really sealed the deal. Jess nudged me over the ledge lol So work has begun on this project and I am loving it but it is a lot of work. Each order of shark, extant and extinct, will eventually have it's own display. Within the the display, each family or in some cases genus, will be set up by temporal range. I think these displays will not only allow more efficient presentations but will also show temporal range and distribution as best we can.

 

Step 1 was identifying which orders, families, and genera we need to add to the collection in order to round out what we already had. Some orders needed little attention but there were some that needed a bit of a boost. Heterodontiformes was an example of one that needed to a boost. We had Jurassic teeth (Paracestracion and Heterodontus) but little else. Having the Jurassic teeth is awesome because it shows how far back they go in the fossils record but that would be an underwhelming display visually and not give the kids a great sense of the sharks. We had to find fossils to place them at various points in their temporal range and widen their distribution to the best of our ability. Pristiophoriformes was another that we needed to upgrade as we only had one small rostal tooth. We had a good variety of material for most extinct orders but wanted a Carboniferous Xencanthid tooth to better tell the whole story of the Eel sharks as all of ours were Permian. We picked through micro fossils to add Devonian Ctenacanthiformes teeth to expand the temporal range and add diversity in the form of Phoebodus.

 

Step 2 is on going and is probably the hardest part, acquiring the fossils we need. It is quite easy to find some of the things we needed. Others have been extremely difficult and a few are pretty much impossible. We are unlikely to knock Hemiscyllium or Oxynotus off the list. It proved very difficult, but not impossible, to locate a Cenozoic Chiloscyllium tooth. We had Cretaceous teeth but nothing beyond that and Bamboo Sharks are one that we do talk about quite a bit. After a lengthy search, we finally tracked one down and it was quite inexpensive. Cost is always a factor for us so early on we understood we were not going to be adding some collector type teeth like a 2" Chilean White Shark or the transitional White Shark teeth. We focused instead in smaller teeth and anything that added a new shark, contributed to showing distribution or temporal range. For us a STH Scyliorhinus is a significant fossils because it adds to both distribution and temporal range of a shark we talk about. I am very proud of some of the inexpensive teeth we have found including a Chilean Angelshark, a Miocene Mitsukurina, the Paleocene Chiloscyllium, and a Heterodontus fin spine from STH. We have also been greatly aided in our quest by a couple of donations, including one from @Troodon that included very important Eocene Orectolobiformes teeth and a super Megachasma from Chile. I want to credit @siteseer too though I am not sure what he is sending but I know it help tremendously lol

 

Step 3 was figuring out how many display cases we would need and what sizes we would need. We knew that in addition to the displays by order, some sharks would get their own displays. For example, we have a lot of Lamniformes that we cover during our presentations but Goblin Sharks get special attention because kids really love them so they would get a separate display. The displays will not be of uniform size as some orders will be better represented. There will be more Carcharhiniformes than other orders for example. Size of the shark and size of the fossils also contribute to the need for a variation in display size.

 

Step 4 is dismantling the old displays and putting together the new ones. This is on going and will not be finished until mid March probably. We need new labels which is taking a bit of time as there is a lot of shark fossils going into these displays.

 

Step 5 will be displays of shark relatives. I think we will have one small one that will feature the three Stethacanthids we have, one small display for the two Eugenodontids and then another larger one to house the Batoids. We do cover shark relatives and they are quite popular with the students so these are important to the programs too. Kids love these wierdo creatues lol

 

One of the really cool parts of this project is it allows me to think as an educator but also very much as a collector. I am an educator first and these fossils are for educational purposes but I consider myself a collector of shark fossils too. Doing this does allow me to add things that have educational value but also cross things off the personal list of sharks I want in the collection, like Megachasma and Mitsukurina. I can also view the collection and see areas where we can improve the quality of teeth at some point down the road. White Sharks and Cow sharks in particular will get an upgrade at some point. We can hunt for some of the rare Squaliformes teeth. Maybe we will track down a Ctenacanthus fin spine.

 

Our goal is not just to tell the story of sharks but to show the story of sharks through the fossils. The people who invite us to present our fossils not only get to handle Megalodon teeth but they get close up examinations of a 300 million year old egg case, a Hybodus fin spine, shark vertebra and can compare the difference between Sawshark rostal teeth and Sawfish rostal teeth in their hands. I am quite proud of the hands-on education we give people and I think this project improves the overall impact. This project has also given us far more scientific knowledge and a far better understanding of shark classification. The learning has been invaluable really.

 

Carter and I are both very passionate about sharks as we are with all of our programs but sharks have a special place. When he was a little guy, we would watch shark documentaries and this is an extension of that father son time for us. We knew this would require spending more money and take some time to do but we know it will be worth it. This will be a shark education program that will educate elementary students, museum patrons, college students and senior citizens. That is pretty darn cool I think. We also want to thank all of the forum members who contributed shark fossils and knowledge over the last year. This, like our other programs, would not be possible without the support, encouragement and generosity of TFF members. 

 

I apologize for the length of this post lol I have been really busy and have not been able to take the time to post about this and am pretty excited hence the rambling nature. I will post some pictures as we go through this and complete these.

 

Pic 1 one of the boxes of shark fossils currently laying around our house lol It is a small box but there is quite a lot stored in there, just waiting for their permanent home.

 

 

 

 

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First picture is one of the boxes of random shark stuff laying around the house lol As we take apart the displays and new stuff arrives, we label and carefully store. It’s not as chaotic as it looks 

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The Heterodontus display as it is. One of my two favorite sharks to talk about along with Squatina. Top left two teeth are Jurassic specimens from the UK. Then a really nice Cretaceous tooth from Texas. The tiny light colored one is a Paleocene tooth from Morocco. A really nifty fin spine from STH is new and I love it. 

 

We are waiting on an anterior tooth from STH and I am leaning toward also adding a Chilean tooth or an Eocene UK tooth or both if finances permit lol

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The Hybodontiformes are basically done except for labels. We use a fin spine from Morocco as a touch fossil. I can not see adding any additional material for the foreseeable future as it isn’t high on the priority list. 

 

We cover them from the Carboniferous through Cretaceous and have fossils from North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This will look sharp when properly labeled. 

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9 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Good luck with this.

You're certainly off to a good start.:)

Thank you. I am really loving this and I think these will be really cool when it’s all done :) 

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This is very cool stuff! You obviously have a passion for it and I can see how it would flow better for educational purposes. Well done! :thumbsu:

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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1 hour ago, FossilNerd said:

This is very cool stuff! You obviously have a passion for it and I can see how it would flow better for educational purposes. Well done! :thumbsu:

Thank you. We do have the passion and I’m excited about this direction. The work will be worth it. 

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My work schedule is super busy the rest of this week so I won’t have a chance to add to this for a few days. I wanted to post this as the “before” pic lol 

 

The Carpet Sharks present an interesting problem for us. Tiny teeth but it’s an order with some diversity so this has become our tweener order so to speak. I don’t think it’ll fit in a 8x12 and it’s not enough to really fill in a larger display.

 

In the photo you’ll see Cretorectolobus, Cederastroemia, Orectolobus, Nebrius, Ginglymostoma, Plicatoscyllium, and Chiloscyllium. In addition to what you see we have Paleocene Chiloscyllium and Palaeorhincodon teeth yet to arrive. We have a pretty good representation of temporal range(Jurassic-Miocene) and some decent diversity. There are teeth from North America, the UK, Russia, and North Africa. 

 

I am not sure we can scrounge up much else from the Carpet Sharks so we’ll just use spacing in a larger display to make it look nice. I am pretty proud of this collection, humble as it is lol

 

 

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The Angelshark display is nearly complete with the arrival of a Chilean Squatina. We should have our Jurassic Angelshark tooth within a week or so which will finish this display. This is my favorite shark and I love talking about them. 

 

Not a ton of fossils obviously but we can show people teeth as far back as the Jurassic and from some pretty cool locations/formations. 

 

I also take great pride in the time we spend in every program talking about shark conservation and specifically Angelshark conservation. 

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Great idea!

In my eyes taxonomy is the one thing that can bring an order to the wonderful diversity of life that puny humans can understand.

I have been pondering a way to organize my collection for some time. It would be great if one could arrange things in 4-5 dimensions (geological age, geographic range, taxonomic group, ecological niche, habitat (terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal... not as diverse in sharks.)

But maybe 2-3 are enough, many evolutionary trees have kind of a time axis from bottom to top, so you could keep info on geological era in the taxonomic display like that.

Best Regards,

J

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Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

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On 2/20/2020 at 4:57 AM, Mahnmut said:

Great idea!

In my eyes taxonomy is the one thing that can bring an order to the wonderful diversity of life that puny humans can understand.

I have been pondering a way to organize my collection for some time. It would be great if one could arrange things in 4-5 dimensions (geological age, geographic range, taxonomic group, ecological niche, habitat (terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal... not as diverse in sharks.)

But maybe 2-3 are enough, many evolutionary trees have kind of a time axis from bottom to top, so you could keep info on geological era in the taxonomic display like that.

Best Regards,

J

Hi J

 

I absolutely understand. Even using a strictly taxonomic style has drawbacks. We can utilize both taxonomic and temporal range organization in these displays. Within each taxonomic display, the teeth are organized by temporal range too. Our Angelsharks for example, go from Jurassic to Miocene/Pliocene if you go left to right in this display. 

 

It has been a highly educational project as I’ve gotten a deeper understanding of the relationships between sharks within an order and I have a much better understanding of the biological information. 

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Hexanchiformes is the order of sharks that has grown on me the most. When we started this, we had a single tooth and only briefly mentioned them. Now they get equal time and attention. 

 

I have really gotten fond of the Cow Sharks and their gorgeous teeth. Our collection is pretty humble but we have fair diversity and can stretch back to the Albian which isn’t bad. I am not 100% sure about two of STH teeth. I actually think one or both might be Physogaleus. 

 

Notidanodon- Cretaceous Russia

Weltonia- Paleocene Africa

Notorynchus- Eocene Belgium

Notorynchus- Miocene Calvert Cliffs

 

Hexanchus- Cretaceous Canada 

Hexanchus- Paleocene Africa

Hexanchus- Miocene STH

 

We will definitely be adding to this. My goal is to be able to move this to a larger display and diversify. Next up would be a Peruvian and a Chilean Cow Shark. 

 

For now, I am pretty happy with what we have and excited to talk Cow Sharks :) 

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Edited by fossilsonwheels
Misidentified tooth
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  • 2 weeks later...

This may move to a slightly larger display box to accommodate more Scapanorhynchus teeth but this is the general idea of the Mitsukurinidae display. We LOVE Goblins and so do the kids. The Lamniformes will take up at least 4 displays, 5 if we house Megachasma and Cetorhinus in a small separate display. I thought the Goblins needed their own space lol 

 

We cover three different species of Scapanorhynchus and have teeth from the US (New Mexico, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Mississippi, Colorado) and one from Kazakhstan. 

 

We have a Cretaceous Anomotodon from Morocco and an Eocene one from Virginia. 

 

Today we got the last piece of the puzzle and it is AWESOME. Our first Mitsukurina tooth from the Miocene of France :) 

 

Given the popularity of Goblins and the wealth of interesting adaptations, it made sense to make the effort to track down as much as we could. The Mitsukurina makes this feel complete and I am pretty proud of this one. 

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Our first finished taxonomic display is.....

 

.... <insert drum roll>

 

Squatiniformes !!!! 

 

All the teeth we will have are present. I am really fond of this display and I think it is a solid representation of one of my favorite sharks. An important shark and a focus of the conservation part of our program. Labels will change a bit but that is minor. 

 

Adaptations- super strike speed (1/10th of a second) and camouflage. 

 

Temporal Range of fossils - Jurassic to Pliocene 

 

Distribution of Fossils- Europe, North America, South America

 

This display will make it’s debut at the Franklin Elementary School Science Night in a few weeks :) 

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Hi Kurt,

 

For anything you can't find right away, you can always use a photo/photocopy.  Some of those squaliforms and cat sharks are so small you might want an enlarged photo anyway.

 

I'll try to get the box out to you this week.

 

Jess

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1 hour ago, siteseer said:

Hi Kurt,

 

For anything you can't find right away, you can always use a photo/photocopy.  Some of those squaliforms and cat sharks are so small you might want an enlarged photo anyway.

 

I'll try to get the box out to you this week.

 

Jess

Hi Jess

 

One of the things we are working on is some photographs of the smaller teeth. This has turned into quite a project. Once it is all done the work will have been worth it. Hopefully lol

 

No worries. At your convenience. 

 

Kurt

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  • 2 weeks later...

Second completed display, Heterodontiformes. The Bullhead Sharks are one of my favorite sharks. I think we have some excellent fossils (anterior, lateral, anterior-lateral teeth and a nice fin spine to boot). 

 

Adaptations- bite force/jaw strength, defensive spine

 

Temporal range- Jurassic to Miocene 

 

Distribution- Europe, North America, Africa

 

It will be quite some time before these displays are seen by anybody in the form of a program so we may be able to expand on this with a Chilean tooth or something. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hexanchiformes, our Cow Shark display has come along way. 

 

Adaptations- super cool dentition, adaptable behavior 

 

Temporal Range- Cretaceous( Albian is the earliest) to Pliocene. 

 

Distribution- North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa

 

We got a ton of help putting this together. Pretty proud of this. Beautiful teeth, diverse locations 

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Orectolobiformes 

 

One that is not finished. We have 10 teeth and need 15 to really fill the display. We should be able to finish this off in a month or two. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Xenacanthiformes

 

Not the most expansive collection but it works. My favorite is the German tooth. 

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Synechodontiformes 

 

It will be fun to use this in programs given these sharks are largely unknown to our audience. 

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Orectolobiformes 

 

Our Carpet Shark display is coming along. We added a couple of Nurse Shark teeth and may be able to add another tooth to the display soon. 

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The Carpet Shark teeth are finally in a display though this will likely become two displays shortly thanks to some trades. Not all that impressive yet but it will improve. 

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