Show us your Squaliformes teeth !!!

[fossilsonwheels]

Here a few of our STH Squalus teeth. These all came from matrix sent to us by @JBMugu. I’ll post some close ups later but this shows the diversity of colors you can find. 

[fossilsonwheels]

Greenland Sharks are scientifically fascinating animals and I really liked including them in our education programs. The teeth are really cool too. We only have the one but I like it. 

 

Somniosus microcephalus

Pliocene

Antwerp Sand

Antwerp Belgium

[MarcoSr]

11 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Here's a Paleocene Squalus from the Aquia. Large serrations.

 

 

 

Eric

 

That is a very interesting tooth.  I've collected all of the different zones of the Aquia Formation in both Maryland and Virginia and have not seen a Squalus that has large serrations like this tooth before.  The serrations are even much larger than those that I see on Eocene Squalus crenatidens from Virginia.  I see features on this tooth that remind me of an orectolobiforme.

 

Marco Sr.

 

 

[fossilsonwheels]

Centrophorus sp. 

Pliocene

Antwerp Sands

Antwerp Belgium

 

Our only Gulper Shark tooth and our most recent Squaliformes addition. We got this from @Untitled. A good guy with some cool shark teeth

[Al Dente]

7 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Eric

 

That is a very interesting tooth.  I've collected all of the different zones of the Aquia Formation in both Maryland and Virginia and have not seen a Squalus that has large serrations like this tooth before.  The serrations are even much larger than those that I see on Eocene Squalus crenatidens from Virginia.  I see features on this tooth that remind me of an orectolobiforme.

 

Marco Sr.

 

 

Marco-

I’m fairly confident it is a Squaliform tooth but will look at it again sometime soon. I remember you posted a similar one from the Aquia and talked about undescribed heavily serrated Squalus teeth from the formation. Here’s your photo from this post-http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/41115-paleocene-shark-ray-fish-and-other-micros-from-the-aquia-formation-of-virginia/

 

[MarcoSr]

2 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Marco-

I’m fairly confident it is a Squaliform tooth but will look at it again sometime soon. I remember you posted a similar one from the Aquia and talked about undescribed heavily serrated Squalus teeth from the formation. Here’s your photo from this post-http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/41115-paleocene-shark-ray-fish-and-other-micros-from-the-aquia-formation-of-virginia/

 

 

 

Wow, I totally forgot about that Aquia zone 4 tooth from Virginia.  However looking at it again and at your tooth, what bothers me is that neither of the two teeth have any evidence of a prominent, basally extended apron which is a key feature of a Squalus tooth.  I agree that our two teeth are the same species but I'm not sure they are Squalus sp.

 

Edit: Looking closer at the roots they do look like a Squaliform tooth.

 

Marco Sr.

[Troodon]

Here are some from Hornby Island, BC 

Late Cretaceous 

Squalus nicholsae

 

Echinorhinus sp? 1/2"wide

Not sure

Centrosqualus? Squaliodalatias?

[siteseer]

On 10/20/2020 at 5:57 AM, Al Dente said:

Here are some Isistius that I've posted before.

 

 

 

Hi Al Dente,

 

Wow, that's a great posterior tooth.

 

Jess

 

[siteseer]

20 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Greenland Sharks are scientifically fascinating animals and I really liked including them in our education programs. The teeth are really cool too. We only have the one but I like it. 

 

Somniosus microcephalus

Pliocene

Antwerp Sand

Antwerp Belgium

 

 

Hi Kurt,

 

I can say your Somniosus specimen is a lot better than mine.  There was a great episode of "River Monsters" a few years ago.  It was a two-hour special episode about investigating the source of the Loch Ness Monster - the actual animal that might remain undiscovered or just a known animal out of its range.  There was a segment on Greenland sharks.  I think there was also an NHK show translated into English about Greenland sharks on a Shark Week a few years ago. 

 

Jess

 

 

[siteseer]

19 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Eric

 

That is a very interesting tooth.  I've collected all of the different zones of the Aquia Formation in both Maryland and Virginia and have not seen a Squalus that has large serrations like this tooth before.  The serrations are even much larger than those that I see on Eocene Squalus crenatidens from Virginia.  I see features on this tooth that remind me of an orectolobiforme.

 

Marco Sr.

 

 

 

Yes, it is interesting.  It's hard to say without a profile shot but it looks rather flattened labiolingually.  It may be a pathologic.  When Squalus teeth are a less regular shape, they can get very weird.

 

I think it is Squalus and therefore a squaliform.  It has what appears to be a lingual peg.

 

Jess

[siteseer]

On 10/10/2020 at 11:01 PM, fossilsonwheels said:

Our oldest tooth from an extant Squaliformes genus is this Bramble from Down Under. Side note, this remains our only Australian shark tooth. 

 

Echinorhinus australis

Upper Cretaceous 

Council Quarry Pit

Queensland, Australia

 

I dig this tiny tooth. 

 

Scientific note- molecular studies suggest Brambles are more closely related to Angelsharks and Sawsharks than Squaliformes. I assume eventually they will be moved from this order but until then I include them. 

 

Hi Kurt,

 

The thing about Echinorhinus is that it has a more basic morphology than other squaliforms so it seems more like what we'd expect of an early form.  To me that's the thing that runs counter to the molecular studies conclusion that brambles are more closely related to angel sharks and sawsharks although both could be true.  Echinorhinus could be close to the most primitive squaliform and its ancestor could have been a relative of the early angel sharks and sawsharks. 

 

Jess

 

[fossilsonwheels]

3 hours ago, Troodon said:

Here are some from Hornby Island, BC 

Late Cretaceous 

Squalus nicholsae

 

Echinorhinus sp? 1/2"wide

Not sure

Centrosqualus? Squaliodalatias?

I was waiting for you to show up here Frank and amaze me lol Those are some seriously awesome Squaliformes teeth.

 

I wonder if Cretascymnus might be possible for a couple of those in the last photo?  I have seen teeth referred to as Cretascymnus from Hornby Island that are superficially similar at the very least.

[fossilsonwheels]

1 hour ago, siteseer said:

 

 

Hi Kurt,

 

I can say your Somniosus specimen is a lot better than mine.  There was a great episode of "River Monsters" a few years ago.  It was a two-hour special episode about investigating the source of the Loch Ness Monster - the actual animal that might remain undiscovered or just a known animal out of its range.  There was a segment on Greenland sharks.  I think there was also an NHK show translated into English about Greenland sharks on a Shark Week a few years ago. 

 

Jess

 

 

I saw that River Monster Episode ! I found some interesting papers regarding the science behind ageing the sharks using eye tissue and have found a couple of informative videos. I am really fascinated with the biology of Squaliformes in general and the Greenland Shark is one of those with a series of adaptations that are so perfectly suited to the environment that they live in.

[siteseer]

11 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Wow, I totally forgot about that Aquia zone 4 tooth from Virginia.  However looking at it again and at your tooth, what bothers me is that neither of the two teeth have any evidence of a prominent, basally extended apron which is a key feature of a Squalus tooth.  I agree that our two teeth are the same species but I'm not sure they are Squalus sp.

 

Edit: Looking closer at the roots they do look like a Squaliform tooth.

 

Marco Sr.

 

I think this tooth may be a pathologic Squalus too.  It looks like the root is protruding lingually.or maybe it's just incomplete.

 

Jess

 

Edit:  I keep looking at that tooth, wondering if it is an undescribed genus.

[fossilsonwheels]

15 minutes ago, siteseer said:

 

Hi Kurt,

 

The thing about Echinorhinus is that it has a more basic morphology than other squaliforms so it seems more like what we'd expect of an early form.  To me that's the thing that runs counter to the molecular studies conclusion that brambles are more closely related to angel sharks and sawsharks although both could be true.  Echinorhinus could be close to the most primitive squaliform and its ancestor could have been a relative of the early angel sharks and sawsharks. 

 

Jess

 

Hi Jess

 

I think I agree with your assessment. I can understand the molecular link especially in the context you note but would also agree they fit for what I would think of as an early Squaliformes. I think it would be a fascinating area of further study for sure. I would love to learn more about early Squaliformes.

 

Kurt

[fossilsonwheels]

I know the title says teeth but here some denticles from STH I think could be Echinorhinus denticles. 

[fossilsonwheels]

We got some nice Isistius teeth and matrix from @digit awhile back which let us find a couple of teeth on our own. Ken is an incredibly generous and helpful TFF member and we are very thankful for our Cookiecutter Creek fossils !! 

 

Isistius triangulus

Pliocene

Tamiami Formation 

Cookiecutter Creek

Florida

[siteseer]

5 hours ago, Troodon said:

Echinorhinus sp? 1/2"wide

Not sure

Centrosqualus? Squaliodalatias?

 

 

Hi Troodon,

 

Yeah, I think that tooth in the gem jar is Echinorhinus.  The ones from there and apparently all the brambles from the Cretaceous to at least early Eocene did not have cusplets.

 

As far as I know, the three squaliform teeth in the photo above belong to a form that hasn't been described.  There was a publication said to be in progress about 15 years ago and David Ward was involved but I don't think that has been released.  Someone released a CD version of a guide to shark teeth from British Columbia.  I didn't get that so I don't know whether that was the same project.  They are similar to Centrosqualus.  I'll see if I have something similar from elsewhere.

 

That fourth little tooth is unusual.  It's blurry but it resembles an unidentified tooth from the early Eocene of Virginia (see Kent in Weems and Grimsley, eds., 1999: p. 33, fig. R.)

 

Jess

 

Kent, B. in Weems, R. E. and G.J. Grimsley (eds.), 1999.  Early Eocene Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Pub 152. 159pp.

[fossilsonwheels]

5 minutes ago, siteseer said:

 

 

Hi Troodon,

 

Yeah, I think that tooth in the gem jar is Echinorhinus.  The ones from there and apparently all the brambles from the Cretaceous to at least early Eocene did not have cusplets.

 

As far as I know, the three squaliform teeth in the photo above belong to a form that hasn't been described.  There was a publication said to be in progress about 15 years ago and David Ward was involved but I don't think that has been released.  Someone released a CD version of a guide to shark teeth from British Columbia.  I didn't get that so I don't know whether that was the same project.  They are similar to Centrosqualus.  I'll see if I have something similar from elsewhere.

 

That fourth little tooth is unusual.  It's blurry but it resembles an unidentified tooth from the early Eocene of Virginia (see Kent in Weems and Grimsley, eds., 1999: p. 33, fig. R.)

 

Jess

 

Kent, B. in Weems, R. E. and G.J. Grimsley (eds.), 1999.  Early Eocene Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Pub 152. 159pp.

Jess

excellent information as always. I figured you’d know something beyond my own knowledge lol 

 

This has turned into a really educational and fun thread which was my goal  

[siteseer]

1 hour ago, fossilsonwheels said:

I saw that River Monster Episode ! I found some interesting papers regarding the science behind ageing the sharks using eye tissue and have found a couple of informative videos. I am really fascinated with the biology of Squaliformes in general and the Greenland Shark is one of those with a series of adaptations that are so perfectly suited to the environment that they live in.

 

Yeah, there was a cover article in Natural History magazine about Greenland sharks last year, I think.  You might be able to find it on the magazine's website.

 

Jess

[Troodon]

58 minutes ago, siteseer said:

 

 

Hi Troodon,

 

As far as I know, the three squaliform teeth in the photo above belong to a form that hasn't been described.  There was a publication said to be in progress about 15 years ago and David Ward was involved but I don't think that has been released.  Someone released a CD version of a guide to shark teeth from British Columbia.  I didn't get that so I don't know whether that was the same project.  They are similar to Centrosqualus.  I'll see if I have something similar from elsewhere.

 

That fourth little tooth is unusual.  It's blurry but it resembles an unidentified tooth from the early Eocene of Virginia (see Kent in Weems and Grimsley, eds., 1999: p. 33, fig. R.)

 

Jess

.

Thanks, have you seen this 2019 publication by Cappetta there are a couple of new ones described in it .   I'll check out that publication.

 

A shark fauna from the Campanian of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada: an insight
into the diversity of Cretaceous deep-water assemblages
Henri Cappetta, Kurt Morrison & Sylvain Adnet

 

 

 

[MarcoSr]

3 hours ago, siteseer said:

Jess

 

Edit:  I keep looking at that tooth, wondering if it is an undescribed genus.

 

Jess

 

I'm also thinking undescribed genus.

 

Marco Sr.

[fossilsonwheels]

One more from our collection. The bottom tooth came from @JBMugu . I was pretty happy to end up with a Bramble from STH and we are extremely grateful to Jessie. The top one was a later addition. 

 

Echinorhinus blakei 

Miocene

Round Mountain Silt

Kern Co California 

 

Pretty rare in the fauna as I understand it. 

 

Also the last Squaliformes we can post for now. This is an area that I’m always looking to expand though so hopefully I will have something to contribute again soon. 

 

I look forward to seeing more awesome teeth from TFF members and more information being shared  

 

 

[fossilsonwheels]

I can add a few new teeth to thread. Very excited to have a couple from the Cretaceous to update. The Squalus tooth was a gift from @Troodon. 

 

Centrophoroides

Cretaceous

ENCI Quarry

The Netherlands 

 

Squalus sp

Cretaceous

Hornby Island BC

 

Now we can trace Squalus back to the Cretaceous ! 

 

 

[fossilsonwheels]

We also picked up another tooth from The Netherlands. 

 

Squalus acanthius

Miocene

Mill, The Netherlands.