Largest Cretalamna appendiculata-type shark teeth

[bthemoose]

I've been wondering how large teeth from Cretalamna appendiculata-type sharks could get. In their examination/further classification of these sharks, Siversson et al. depict several teeth that are a good deal larger than an inch/25.4 mm, including a first upper anterior of C. borealis that they note may have originally reached 38-40 mm in height (though with a broken tip is shorter than that now). From a marketplace perspective, C. appendiculata type teeth measuring an inch or larger appear somewhat uncommon, though they pop up from time to time.

 

My question for shark teeth experts and collectors on the forum is what's the largest C. appendiculata-type tooth that you know of? Please post photos of any larger teeth in your collections as well. 

 

Below are a few large U.S. teeth that I've acquired. From left to right, they are: (1-3) 28.6 mm, 26.3 mm, and 28.0 mm from the Campanian of Russell County, Alabama; (4) 27.9 mm from the Santonian-Campanian of northeast Mississippi; and (5) 28.0 mm from the Maastrichtian of Conway, South Carolina. The tooth on the left would have been even bigger with the tip intact of course!

 

[ThePhysicist]

My largest Cretalamna is an anterior at about 35 mm slant height, I'm sure someone else has a bigger one.

 

[Al Dente]

I have one from the Campanian Tar Heel Formation in NC that is 32 millimeters. It is unusually large for the site, most are much smaller. Here is a photo including all the ones found that day. The 32 mm one is the lower left.

 

[MarcoSr]

I have a very large number of Cretolamna and Otodus teeth from the Paleocene and Eocene.  I have a good bit of trouble telling Cretolamna and Otodus teeth apart based upon tooth features.  I typically put teeth over one inch in the Otodus pile based upon size.  So I really don't know the size of my largest Cretolamna tooth.

 

Marco Sr.

[bthemoose]

@ThePhysicist and @Al Dente, those are great teeth, thanks for sharing!

 

@ThePhysicist, I'm sure you already know this, but your tooth is also a good deal larger than Welton & Farish list as Cretalamna's max size from Texas (26 mm) in their Fossil Sharks and Rays of Texas book. On p. 103 of that book, they further note "the teeth of Cretalamna appendiculata appear to increase in size ... reaching their largest size in the Maestrichtian" which makes me wonder if anyone here might have still larger examples from younger formations in Texas or other places. 

 

@Al Dente, I'm a sucker for Cretalamna laterals in general and that Tar Heel monster is gorgeous. What a find!

 

@MarcoSr, I was wondering about Cretaceous vs. Paleogene Cretalamna as well and whether "large Cretalamna" from the Paleogene might actually be Otodus instead. Do you know if anyone has published a comparison of these genera in the Paleogene? In Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Bay Region (p. 51), Kent notes that Cretalamna appendiculata teeth can reach 3.5 cm as compared to 10 cm for Otodus obliquus, though it's unclear if he's referring to 3.5 cm specifically in the Paleogene or simply at some point in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene timespan.

[MarcoSr]

2 hours ago, bthemoose said:

 

@MarcoSr, I was wondering about Cretaceous vs. Paleogene Cretalamna as well and whether "large Cretalamna" from the Paleogene might actually be Otodus instead. Do you know if anyone has published a comparison of these genera in the Paleogene? In Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Bay Region (p. 51), Kent notes that Cretalamna appendiculata teeth can reach 3.5 cm as compared to 10 cm for Otodus obliquus, though it's unclear if he's referring to 3.5 cm specifically in the Paleogene or simply at some point in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene timespan.

 

I'm not aware of a published comparison of the genera in the Paleogene.  Below is what Jim Bourdon states on elasmo.com:

Quote

The Paleogene record

In the Paleogene, very similar tooth-designs are ascribed to both Otodus and Cretalamna based largely on differences of root shape. The below specimens have been ascribed to Cretalamana by those more experienced than myself.

 

So it sounds like the genera differentiation in the Paleogene requires a good bit of expertise which I don't have.

Marco Sr.

[hemipristis]

On 12/30/2022 at 2:34 PM, ThePhysicist said:

My largest Cretalamna is an anterior at about 35 mm slant height, I'm sure someone else has a bigger one.

 

That anterior is a beast!

[hemipristis]

19 hours ago, Al Dente said:

I have one from the Campanian Tar Heel Formation in NC that is 32 millimeters. It is unusually large for the site, most are much smaller. Here is a photo including all the ones found that day. The 32 mm one is the lower left.

 

I’d call that a good day!