Carcharocles auriculatus I think

[pinkus]

Can I get confirmation on this being a Carcharocles auriculatus. I found it years ago in Monmouth County, New Jersey. In a portion of a brook that I believe only has the Eocene Manasquan Formation exposed. Slightly further downstream there is also Miocene exposure. Love the cusps on this guy.

[PaleoRon]

It is an early form of C. auriculatus or a late form of Otodus depending on which reference you read. There are a few different names floating around that cover various forms relating to the amount/percentage of serrations present on the blade. At any rate it is intermediate between the two and an uncommon tooth to find. Similar specimens are found in the Woodstock Member of the Nanjemoy Formation in Maryland. Here is a pic of one that I found while diving in North Carolina. It is a bit closer to Carcharocles than your specimen but it is not serrated toward the tip of the blade and the cusp serration are weak.

[fossilselachian]

Yes, as Ron stated - somewhere in the Otodus/Carcharocles lineage. Call it what you like but you have a most uncommon find from NJ.

[sixgill pete]

Beautiful tooth pinkus

[pinkus]

Thanks for the help. I think I will keep calling it Carcharocles as it looks really different from the Otodus that I have found at this locality.

[Shazuren]

Love the tooth. Its absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.

[ynot]

Sweet find!

Tony

[Darktooth]

Sweet tooth!

[Plax]

Your source formation may be the Middle to Late Eocene Shark River instead of the Manasquan. The Manasquan is early Eocene. Most all the vertebrate material found associated with the Manasquan and Shark River formations is concentrated in a lag at the base of the Miocene Kirkwood though. Fossils of varying ages from early Eocene to Miocene can be found in the lags.

[pinkus]

Thanks Plax. I'm pretty sure that this is too far upstream from any Kirkwood (or Shark River) Fm exposure to have come from it. There are people far more knowledgeable than me who claim to know what layers to dig in for the big Otodus/Carcharocles teeth. The 4 or 5 that I have found have all been found as float on gravel banks in the stream. 

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[Plax]

I didn't think that auriculatis was found in the early eocene? I may be wrong of course...

Edited August 31, 2016 by Plax
additional information

[Vball]

Carcharocles aksuaticus (aka Otodus subserratus)

http://www.elasmo.com/genera/slides/o_lineage/o_segue.html

Very nice find!!! This is what I would label it if it were mine.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Vball

[tipsycat]

I am fairly certain that this tooth is Carcharocles aksuaticus because the serrations fade at about midway up the blade, and the tip appears to be free of serrations. This intermediate form of Carcharocles was short-lived in the fossil record.  

 

We need to see if the age-range for the suspected formation in New Jersey matches the appropriate member of the Woodstock formation (bed A and bed A- B contact ) in Maryland and Virginia from the Ypresian period during the Eocene.  Also check the age of the Tolgaysor formation in Kazakhstan (bed 5) which contains C. Aksuaticus.  These teeth existed approximately 52 million years ago for only around a half to one million years. The elasmo.com website explains this best!  I wonder if you have found a pocket of material from this same timeframe?  

 

From what I could find, the Manasquan formation is also Ypresian in age range and could match the correct age of roughly 52 mya.  Likely that formation is from the same transgression of the ocean onto land that covered parts of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.  Very rare and very cool specimen... I would be hunting that creek after heavy rains!  Post us some more images of teeth if you find them or know of other ones from the Manasquan.  There are only a few places on earth where this rare transitional form of Carcharocles can be found... I think you just found another one!