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Shark tooth embedded in bone?


HunterMeg

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Hi everyone,

 

A friend found this bone with what looks like a shark tooth embedded into it while he was hunting in Bakersfield near Shark Tooth Hill.

 

Does it look like an embedded shark tooth?  and what type of shark do you think it could be from?  
 

He found several Hastalis and Planus teeth in the same layer.

 

I really appreciate all the help the community has provided me.  I learn something new every time.

 

Thanks!

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6803C608-0DBE-452B-BE75-CA347C372EF1.jpeg

Edited by HunterMeg
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Can I see a closer angle of the side, from these images it doesn't look shark tooth shaped

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Hello.

This looks like something embedded in bone sure enough.

For an identification of the embedded item itself I assume even the shark wizards on the forum here will need more closeup photos from different angles.

Cheers, J

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Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

Thomas Henry Huxley

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Thanks for the quick responses.  I have asked him for some closer up views from different angles.  I’ll add them to the post as soon as I receive them.  

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1 hour ago, HunterMeg said:

New photos added.

All of these photos are at an obtuse angle .. if we can get down at eye level (perpendicular) so to speak and see the 'tooth' in profile, maybe a better shot right down the root/barrel of the tooth to see the internal structure. Definitely is not the right shape for a shark tooth but there are other possibilities. 

 

Cheers,

Brett

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Looks like a piece of manganese growing on the bone, but I'm not sure. Hopefully some of the other shark tooth hill hunters can chime in. 

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When I do an extreme blow up of the picture (besides getting fuzzy) It looks like it’s grown out of the bone instead of punched into the bone...

34DD1845-D559-4C8E-AF9E-415A41FE500A.jpeg

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manganese deposits are very common on Bakersfield bones.  And they are randomly shaped black things.  I am on the manganese team.  This thing does not look like a shark tooth.  

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What I find interesting is what looks like a nice shark tooth slice out of the bone further up. It could potentially be a broken off hastalis lower tooth, they can be roundish. Probably the only way to know for sure would be to pull it straight up and see if anything comes out (or use an x-ray). It doesn't jump out at me as a manganese nodule, I find they are usually a little more bubbly. I think there is a reasonable chance that its a broken off tooth.

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3 hours ago, JBMugu said:

What I find interesting is what looks like a nice shark tooth slice out of the bone further up. It could potentially be a broken off hastalis lower tooth, they can be roundish. Probably the only way to know for sure would be to pull it straight up and see if anything comes out (or use an x-ray). It doesn't jump out at me as a manganese nodule, I find they are usually a little more bubbly. I think there is a reasonable chance that its a broken off tooth.

My thoughts as well, but my first impression was planus lower due to the robustness of the tooth and it’s round cross section.

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nice teeth!

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'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

George Santayana

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Something that only a really close look can solve,

but in case it was a tooth, may the slight deformation visible in the blown up picture indicate that the bone started to heal around the tooth or is rather a diagenetic artifact?

So it may be tooth, nodule, or tooth with nodule?

Just wondering.

Best Regards,

J

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Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

Thomas Henry Huxley

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would  a simple xray show anything between the density of the fossilized bone and the density of the tooth or mineral.  can you take it to your local dentist or do you need something more powerful?

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A CT at the local hospital would be the best.  Bring it in (maybe after Covid) and show them and ask if they would be willing to check it out for you between real patients.

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A sharp closeup from side like the blurry one Randyw showed would help.  Not seen a shark tooth from that image.  Lots of other marine critters in that fauna.  But could be mineral as others have stated

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On 19.11.2020 at 3:04 AM, jpc said:

A CT at the local hospital would be the best.  Bring it in (maybe after Covid) and show them and ask if they would be willing to check it out for you between real patients.

If you find the opportunity to have it CT-ed it may be even easier to have it scanned simultaneously with a real patient. That way it does not generate additional costs. Although that should not be as much of a problem with CT as with MRI, which is really expensive. A friend of mine wrote his doctors thesis on turtle lung function, For that reason there are now some people who will never forget the experience of going to the MRI together with a live turtle.

Cheers,

J

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

Thomas Henry Huxley

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3 hours ago, Mahnmut said:

If you find the opportunity to have it CT-ed it may be even easier to have it scanned simultaneously with a real patient. That way it does not generate additional costs. Although that should not be as much of a problem with CT as with MRI, which is really expensive. A friend of mine wrote his doctors thesis on turtle lung function, For that reason there are now some people who will never forget the experience of going to the MRI together with a live turtle.

Cheers,

J

That is a great story.

I have never been charged to do a CT of a fossil.  Charged a ton to do one of me once.  

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