hokietech96 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I needed something to satisfy my itch since I still cannot get out. So i had purchased a box of matrix from Lee Creek. I spent the weekend seperating the matrix into 4 different sizes. I was excited to try my smaller double decker sifter and it worked perfect. I also used that over a window screen. I found a ton of new items that I do not have in my collection. Including my first croc tooth. It is super tiny but it is my first. These are my finds after my first run through. I think I am going to have to get some type of magnifying glass for the smaller stuff. Any feedback on incorrect ID's is much appreciated. Enjoy the pics. Sawshark - Pristiophorous Croc Tooth Basking Shark - Cetorhinus maximus Whale Shark - Rhincodon Typus Dolphin Tooth Hammerhead - Sphyrna Zygaena Mako 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Your croc tooth is probably a fish tooth. Your Rhincodon is a Physogaleus contortus tooth. I would like to see more views of your basking shark tooth. It looks interesting. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 @Al Dente Thank you so much for your feedback. I more picks of the the three items you mentioned. The one that I thought was a whale shark looks exactly like the picture on Elasmo: Let me know if these pics change your mind any. Thanks for looking at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 @Al Dente Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 You can see the typical contorted blade that gives Physogaleus contortus its name. You can also see serrations that Rhincodon won't have. Your new pics of the basking shark makes me fairly sure that this is a symphyseal tooth from Hemipristis. There is only one croc found at Lee Creek and I've never seen a tiny tooth from one. I'm fairly confident your tooth is a fish tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 @Al Dente Thanks so much for the education. I did see those serrations after I sent the picture to you. It is crazy how much the shape is similar to the whale shark. The symphyseal tooth looks identical to the pic on elasmo. Here I was all confident, throwing shark names around and I was still wrong. Haha. Thanks for your help. this is the pic from elasmo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Great finds. I like the dolphin and the hammerhead teeth. Nice to hear that your sifters are working. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rand95 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Awesome finds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 @Al Dente Do you think the fish tooth can be a pinfish Fig 1: Lagodon sp pinfish — tooth Lee Creek fauna, Aurora, NC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I'm not sure about this tooth. My first thought was that it is from a megamouth shark (Megachasma sp.) Looking at the elasmo picture makes me think it might be cetorhinus. Maybe someone else can comment on what is more definitively. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Somebody has been a busy Beaver. 1 I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 2 hours ago, hokietech96 said: @Al Dente Do you think the fish tooth can be a pinfish Fig 1: Lagodon sp pinfish — tooth Lee Creek fauna, Aurora, NC Not a pinfish. Your tooth is more cone shaped and it looks like it is chipped near the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Here are some examples of modern basking shark teeth. These are from the shark-references.com website. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 @Al Dente thanks so much for the information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 18 hours ago, Al Dente said: Your croc tooth is probably a fish tooth. Your Rhincodon is a Physogaleus contortus tooth. I would like to see more views of your basking shark tooth. It looks interesting. I agree with Eric on fish tooth and P. contortus. Although interesting, your Cetorhinus tooth looks more like a sandtiger symphyseal tooth. Also your sawshark rostral tooth looks more like the broken crown of an oral shark tooth. Marco Sr. Edit: Cetorhinus tooth (4 mm by 2 mm) from the Miocene of Maryland for comparison. ID confirmed by Dr. Bruce Welton. Cetorhinus maximus from Welton 2014: 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 @MarcoSrGreat information. Thank you so much. It is very interesting how similiar it looks to r4/r11 in the chart above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 @Al Dente @MarcoSr Thanks again for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated. Just wanted to give an update. I dont want to muddy the water but I had sent some pictures to the Aurora Museum asking if they knew what type of fish the tooth came from and this is the response: Oh wow! It is a baby croc tooth! The director would like you to share it on your Facebook if you have it, and tag the museum in it. She says (and she is a Paleontologist so she should know!) that the tooth shows signs of feeding wear. Thanks again for sharing! I also sent a picture regarding the symphyseal tooth and this is the response: Congratulations! You found the elusive Whale Shark tooth! Lots of people spend a lot of time searching for these small elusive teeth. It's a great specimen. We have never had anyone to our knowledge find a basking shark in our Aurora material, but they do look a little similar to the whale shark tooth. Thanks for sharing the pictures with us, and we are so glad you enjoyed your fossil kit. Based on the response from the museum, does it make you look at the two items differently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 45 minutes ago, hokietech96 said: Based on the response from the museum, does it make you look at the two items differently? I don’t agree with their identifications on those two items. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 @Al Dente Thank you! I value your opinion and insight very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 @Al Dente I found another fish tooth this morning. It looks exactly like the other one but with less damage. Any thoughts of what fish it could come from? the one on the right is from yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 19 hours ago, Al Dente said: I don’t agree with their identifications on those two items. 20 hours ago, hokietech96 said: @Al Dente @MarcoSr Based on the response from the museum, does it make you look at the two items differently? I also don't agree with their identifications. I probably have fifty or so fish teeth like the one in your picture from matrix from Aurora. They are definitely not baby croc teeth. I'm not sure what tooth they are talking about in the second response. None of your posted specimens are whale shark teeth. Below are pictures of fossil whale shark teeth from matrix from Aurora and extant whale shark teeth: two Aurora whale shark teeth (3.5 mm): two extant whale shark teeth Rhincodon typus (4 mm) and a section of teeth from the jaw: Marco Sr. 3 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 @MarcoSr Thanks for the feedback and the pic. I agree as well that it is a fish tooth. Considering I found another one this morning that looks exactly the same. I know my luck is not that good. The pictures you posted are amazing. The tooth in question does have the similar shape to the ones in your picture. It is such a unique tooth you would think it would be easy to ID. Maybe it is fish and not shark tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 59 minutes ago, hokietech96 said: @MarcoSr Thanks for the feedback and the pic. I agree as well that it is a fish tooth. Considering I found another one this morning that looks exactly the same. I know my luck is not that good. The pictures you posted are amazing. The tooth in question does have the similar shape to the ones in your picture. It is such a unique tooth you would think it would be easy to ID. Maybe it is fish and not shark tooth. As both Eric and I have said this is an interesting tooth. I definitely think it is a shark tooth. It definitely doesn't look like a whale shark tooth to me because of how the root sits on the crown. It is both unusual and uncommon so it is not easy to ID. I do think it is a symphyseal shark tooth. Symphyseal shark teeth tend to have unusual and very varied features and are uncommon fossil finds because of their very small size. It would have helped a lot with an ID if the root was more complete. Marco Sr. 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 @MarcoSrThanks for all the valuable feedback. Very much appreciated! I have zero experience with symphseal teeth and this seems to be my first one in my collection. So that is very exciting for me. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 @hokietech96 I agree with @Al Dente that this tooth is likely a Hemipristis symphyseal tooth. These are an occasional find in matrix from there. I have probably found a hundred or so in 20 years. What is the physical size of the tooth? As far as Cetorhinus or Megachasma I have exactly one of each found in that same 20 years. Both found in matrix that was collected from there about 20 years ago. Both of these teeth are smaller than 8mm. 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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