Jump to content

A Few Micros From Shark Tooth Hill


Kevin Anderson

Recommended Posts

Some teeth from a sample taken in Bakersfield CA.
BKA257004
Dasyatis sp. tooth

JKv2f1U.jpg

BKA257003
Dolphin tooth

aIzr50k.jpg

BKA257002
Cetorhinus maximus (Basking shark)

jTLPFUx.jpg

Edited by Kevin Anderson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice specimens. It looks like your Cetorhinus has a cusplet. Cetorhinus from Bakerfield with one cusplet are not common. I would call your tooth Cetorhinus sp. instead of maximus.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the dolphin tooth and the photography is excellent.

Edited by John Hamilton
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice specimens. It looks like your Cetorhinus has a cusplet. Cetorhinus from Bakerfield with one cusplet are not common. I would call your tooth Cetorhinus sp. instead of maximus.

Marco Sr.

That is the only one so far that has a cusplet. I identified them C. maximus based on similarity to the pictures in http://www.elasmo.com/genera/cenozoic/sharks/cetorhinus.html.

I like the dolphin tooth and the photography is excellent.

Thank, you. I love the coloration and how the some of the specimens from this site are translucent.

Edited by Kevin Anderson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is the only one so far that has a cusplet. I identified them C. maximus based on similarity to the pictures in http://www.elasmo.com/genera/cenozoic/sharks/cetorhinus.html.

At that link Jim Bourdon calls the teeth Cetorhinus cf maximus. Note the cf. In the Sharktooth Hill Fauna page Jim Bourdon calls them Cetorhinus sp. and states "Cetorhinus sp — Basking shark

Originally identified as C. cf maximus (GUNNER 1765) it now seems more appropriate to go with a more conservative identification." Plus note these teeth do not have a cusplet in the pictures or descriptions.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At that link Jim Bourdon calls the teeth Cetorhinus cf maximus. Note the cf. In the Sharktooth Hill Fauna page Jim Bourdon calls them Cetorhinus sp. and states "Cetorhinus sp — Basking shark

Originally identified as C. cf maximus (GUNNER 1765) it now seems more appropriate to go with a more conservative identification." Plus note these teeth do not have a cusplet in the pictures or descriptions.

Marco Sr.

Thanks Marco, I will update my database.

How scarce are the ones with a cusplet? of the 20 or so I have so far, it is the only one like with one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Marco, I will update my database.

How scarce are the ones with a cusplet? of the 20 or so I have so far, it is the only one like with one.

I have a friend in CA who had a spot in Ant Hill where he found a small number of Cetorhinus with a single cusplet. He brought several of these to the LA museum several years ago. The LA museum went through all their records for fossils everywhere and found nothing and then turned to other sources and the new/recent species dept. of the LA museum and still no luck with a positive id. When I was out in Bakersfield, I found a Cetorhinus with a single cusplet in his spot. See below:

post-2515-0-66680700-1383221997_thumb.jpgpost-2515-0-31262000-1383222013_thumb.jpgpost-2515-0-50724700-1383222042_thumb.jpg

I believe that the Cetorhinus with a single cusplet are pretty scarce. The regular Cetorhinus are very common in Bakersfield. My sons and I have several hundred from the Ernst Ranch but none with cusplets. I have almost another hundred from Ant Hill and only have one with a cusplet. In my opinion, your tooth is scarce and is a very nice find.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a friend in CA who had a spot in Ant Hill where he found a small number of Cetorhinus with a single cusplet. He brought several of these to the LA museum several years ago. The LA museum went through all their records for fossils everywhere and found nothing and then turned to other sources and the new/recent species dept. of the LA museum and still no luck with a positive id. When I was out in Bakersfield, I found a Cetorhinus with a single cusplet in his spot. See below:

attachicon.gifCetorhinus sp.1.jpgattachicon.gifCetorhinus sp.2.jpgattachicon.gifCetorhinus sp.3.jpg

I believe that the Cetorhinus with a single cusplet are pretty scarce. The regular Cetorhinus are very common in Bakersfield. My sons and I have several hundred from the Ernst Ranch but none with cusplets. I have almost another hundred from Ant Hill and only have one with a cusplet. In my opinion, your tooth is scarce and is a very nice find.

Marco Sr.

Thank you, I appreciate all the information you have posted.

When I was there with Jon and Jim, we only hunted on the Ernst Ranch, plans to go to Ant Hill were scrapped when we had the opportunity to hunt Slow Curve instead.

Kevin Anderson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Shimada (2002) and Welton (2013) have published on how variable the dentition of Cetorhinus maximus is (even within a single dentition)... I don't really see the presence of a few teeth with lateral cusplets as a problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shimada (2002) and Welton (2013) have published on how variable the dentition of Cetorhinus maximus is (even within a single dentition)... I don't really see the presence of a few teeth with lateral cusplets as a problem.

Based upon recent personal communication with Bruce Welton, this will be addressed near term. I don't want to say much more.

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Marco,

Thanks for pointing that out. Here is a link to the PDF in case others are interested.

Luke

http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS522.29-44.pdf

A New Fossil Basking Shark (Lamniformes: Cetorhinidae) from the Middle Miocene Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, Kern County, California

By Bruce Welton

Bruce Welton's paper naming the STH Cetorhinus, C. huddlestoni was published May 1, 2014.

Marco Sr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...