hemipristis Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 South Florida Beach Find. Pretty sure it's genus Carcharhinus. Elongate, curved blade, singular notch and root configuration has me thinking C. altimus (bignose shark). C. acronotus was also similar, but that species tends to be small (<5 ft), apparently. The tooth is 13-14mm in vertical height, which seems a bit large for a 5-foot Carcharhinid. Thoughts? 1 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PODIGGER Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 I can't opine on the genus, but NICE find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 16 hours ago, PODIGGER said: I can't opine on the genus, but NICE find! thanks! If my guess is correct, it's only the second one that I have ID'd out of thousands of collected teeth. Indeed, I cannot seem to find C. altimus teeth listed in the usual, go-to fossil pubs of teeth from the SE U.S. I do see numerous references to fossil teeth of that species from the Caribbean and South America though 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 3 hours ago, hemipristis said: thanks! If my guess is correct, it's only the second one that I have ID'd out of thousands of collected teeth. Indeed, I cannot seem to find C. altimus teeth listed in the usual, go-to fossil pubs of teeth from the SE U.S. I do see numerous references to fossil teeth of that species from the Caribbean and South America though Kent discusses C. altimus in this publication: https://scholarlypress.si.edu/store/life-sciences-biodiversity/geology-and-vertebrate-paleontology-calvert-cliffs/ I think C. altimus has finer serrations and a more tapering crown. Not knowing where you are collecting, I would say that tooth could belong to C. brachyurus, or at least I would look at modern teeth of that species. The serration type (coarse or fine) seems to be variable in that species but let us know what you find. Identifying isolated teeth is often tough with a tooth like that because there may be two other species with very similar teeth in certain parts of the jaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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