Unusual shark teeth

[bthemoose]

I went out to Douglas Point (Paleocene, Aquia Formation) in Maryland yesterday and found a couple of unusual shark teeth. The tooth on the left is about 1.5 cm long and I'm pretty sure is a pathological Striatolamia striata.

 

The tooth on the right looks a bit like an Otodus obliquus or Cretalamna appendiculata to me. Since it's only 1 cm long, Cretalamna might be the better guess. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the IDs. Thanks!

 

 

Here are some more views of the sand tiger on the left. The root is both relatively large and very flat. It appears to be chipped in a couple of spots as marked in the top middle photo below. There is a small cusplet on one side but not on the other. This is perhaps the most peculiar-looking tooth I've found.

 

 

And here are more views of the "Otodus/Cretalamna". The blade is a bit wavy and might perhaps be pathological too.

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by bthemoose

[val horn]

I always look to see what is found in maryland but don’t have the knowledge to heip

[fossilcrazee]

The second tooth is almost certainly an otodus based on the pronounced chevron or bourlette. It's a good one!

 

And I agree with your assessment that the first is striatolamina but not sure if it is pathological.

[bthemoose]

8 minutes ago, fossilcrazee said:

The second tooth is almost certainly an otodus based on the pronounced chevron or bourlette. It's a good one!

 

And I agree with your assessment that the first is striatolamina but not sure if it is pathological.

 

Thanks! If it is an Otodus--and that's what it looks like to me too, more so than Cretalamna, though it's of course a line drawing exercise between the two--it's by far the smallest one I've found. From the shape it doesn't look like a posterior tooth, so I would guess must have come from a fairly young shark.

 

The Striatolamia striata tooth is unusual, and I think must either be pathological or a rare tooth position. At this point, I've found thousands of them from the Aquia (the most abundant fossil shark species from a very productive formation), and this is the only one I've seen with a root shaped like this.

 

44 minutes ago, val horn said:

I always look to see what is found in maryland but don’t have the knowledge to heip

 

No worries--thanks for taking a look and bumping the thread up.