Any tips to differentiating Cretodus and Cretolamna teeth?

[Jared C]

Hey ya'll - despite my best efforts I have a very tough time telling apart the teeth of Cretodus and Cretolamna - most of what I gather so far is that it *seems* that the blade on a cretodus is sometimes slightly longer and less robust compared to cretolamna, but this has large variation and might not even be a real pattern worth noting. Any tips?

[ThePhysicist]

Lots of differences if you learn them . Cretodus will usually have ridges/striations on the crown and cusplets at the base/foot - usually the distinguishing factor, as they're present in all teeth front to back. The root is also more "U-shaped," while Cretolamna is more squared-off (with the exception of lower anteriors?). From my experience, Cretodus also has more pointed cusplets, whereas Cretolama's are broader. Cretodus can get much larger. At least for anterior teeth, Cretodus has a shelf-like protuberance on the lingual side (towards the inside of the mouth). Anterior Cretolamna teeth can look more like Cretodus, but the protuberance is rounded, and they lack the striations.

 

Cretodus:

From the web:

Posterior:

 

Cretolamna:

From Oceans of Kansas: (great resource)

 

[Jared C]

27 minutes ago, ThePhysicist said:

Lots of differences if you learn them

this was awesome! I'll take a close peek again at my "cretolamna" teeth and try and evaluate them myself with these new insights