the last of the unidentified “Mesaverde” teeth

[fossilsonwheels]

I have finally come to the end of my fun with the “Mesaverde Formation” matrix. There are a few unidentified shark fossils left. I know they may remain little mysteries and that’s ok but still worth a try. 

It was labeled Mesaverde by the seller but I strongly suspect it could actually be Mancos Shale. It did come from Delta County Colorado. As far as age goes, the best guess I have is Cenomanian-Turonian but it could be younger. There were Cretomanta teeth present but I honestly don’t know if they are found beyond the Turonian age. 

 

Thats all the info I can provide about the matrix itself. On to the teeth. 

 

1. Scyliorhinid ? 

 

I believe this is the smallest tooth I found, under 1mm. I think it’s a Catshark but I figured I would get some other opinions. So small it was hard to photograph and move around to get better angles. 

 

 

[fossilsonwheels]

2.  perhaps a weird Sand Tiger ?

3mm tooth. I didn’t find any others quite like this. My best guess would be an odd Sand Tiger.

[fossilsonwheels]

3. Posterior shark tooth or fish tooth?

3mm. I think it’s a posterior Sand Tiger maybe. I could be way off in that thinking lol

[fossilsonwheels]

4. No clue

1.5mm. Under the scope, I’d swear this looks Orectolobiformes. The pictures don’t really do it justice unfortunately. There are two Carpet Sharks I can confirm in this fauna, Chiloscyllium and Cantioscyllium. This isn’t either one of those. That much I’m certain of. I’d also venture it’s not Lamniformes or Carcharhiniformes. I don’t think it’s Batoid. Maybe a fish tooth or something but it looks shark to me. 

 

Having said all that, I am pretty clueless. Difficult to photograph using the micro eye. Best I could do. Any ideas are welcome. 

[siteseer]

Hi Kurt,

 

That first tooth may be undescribed.  I think it is a cat shark but it could be a tiny orectolobiform.   There was nothing like it in Case's 1987 look at teeth from the Teapot Dome Member of the Mesaverde and he did find teeth smaller than and just larger than 1mm.

 

The third tooth does look most like a posterior tooth.

 

Jess

[fossilsonwheels]

On 2/6/2022 at 3:08 PM, siteseer said:

Hi Kurt,

 

That first tooth may be undescribed.  I think it is a cat shark but it could be a tiny orectolobiform.   There was nothing like it in Case's 1987 look at teeth from the Teapot Dome Member of the Mesaverde and he did find teeth smaller than and just larger than 1mm.

 

The third tooth does look most like a posterior tooth.

 

Jess

Hi Jess

 

Thanks for the assistance. I found another tooth that was quite similar to the first one. Unfortunately the tooth in this thread got damaged, right cusplet and part of the root got damaged in transit between the museum and my house. I was nervous about transporting. Fragile and small. Not thrilled I broke it. 

 

Kurt

[siteseer]

19 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Hi Jess

 

Thanks for the assistance. I found another tooth that was quite similar to the first one. Unfortunately the tooth in this thread got damaged, right cusplet and part of the root got damaged in transit between the museum and my house. I was nervous about transporting. Fragile and small. Not thrilled I broke it. 

 

Kurt

 

Yeah, roots are sometimes quite fragile.  I once found a tiny Hemipristis posterior while digging at the Ernst quarries.  The root pretty much disintegrated before I could stabilize it with anything - no hope to glue it back as it seemed to explode into powder.

 

Also, I know from experience that it's tough to position a micro tooth (or sometimes even a larger tooth) so that you get a straight-on lingual and labial view.  It's tough enough just to get a shot in focus.  I appreciate the attempt to show some oddball teeth we might not see otherwise.