Lee Creek Giant Threshers

[cowsharks]

I was able to acquire a nice Giant Thresher (Alopias Grandis, non-serrated form) that came from Lee Creek (Aurora, NC).  It's the third in my collection.  I'm curious to know how rare/uncommon they are from that location.  Giant Thresher shark teeth seem to be found with some regularity in South Carolina, although they be from the Oligocene. Giant threshers are also found in Maryland along Calvert Cliffs (Miocene).  I've seen a few other Giant Threshers from Lee Creek in other people's collections and have heard about a few others.

 

Curious to know, especially from some of the long-time LC collectors, how often they heard of a Giant Thresher being found in the mine.

 

Daryl.

[Darktooth]

I don't have an answer, but that is a beauty!

[Al Dente]

I never saw any found on the trips I took to the mine. The elasmo.com website shows three examples from Lee Creek. Of the three, two are deformed and might not be Alopias Grandis. I have seen serrated Alopias that were found by divers near the Meg Ledge offshore of NC. These most likely are from the Pungo River Formation.

[siteseer]

I would say all the larger threshers are quite rare.  There's the one with the lateral cusplets which has been said to come from the Oligocene.  I think I've seen that one only from South Carolina.  I have seen Alopias grandis from the Early Miocene of Maryland and South Carolina and one from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed.  The serrated one, A. palatasi, is known from the Early-Middle Miocene of Maryland, South Carolina, and I've seen two from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, which is Middle Miocene.

 

There is the impression that the larger threshers are more common in South Carolina but there have been people diving the rivers for decades while collecting at Lee Creek came to a halt at least ten years ago.  A lot of people were collecting that when it was possible and some went as often as allowed so there are some big collections out there.  I think there are more Lee Creek A. grandis than we see because they may sit misidentified as a "weird mako."  

 

Today, threshers are recognized as pelagic animals.  They frequent the open sea, rarely approaching bays and coasts.  It appears the species of the past also preferred that lifestyle.