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pathologically deformed megalodon or not?


mattbsharks

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Hi Everyone, I have become very interested in pathologic megalodon teeth recently.

I was looking at teeth listed on auction sites, and came across one so called pathologic tooth that looks a lot like one i am currently restoring.  

 

My questions are, is the auction tooth actually pathologically deformed? And if so, is my tooth also pathologically deformed?

 

The grey you see on the tooth is from where I began to do restorations to the root of the tooth. I did not reshape any of the blade, only restored enamel peel. Here are pictures of my tooth:

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Matt,not trying to be funny here,but how do YOU define pathology?

I share your fascination with aberrant specimens,BTW

 

 

 

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A specimen that is rare due to the way it formed which differs from the tendencies of a specimen of that species i guess. I mostly think of pathological megs as megs with weird lumps etc on their blades, so I was surprised to find this tooth listed as pathological. How would you define it?

5 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

Matt,not trying to be funny here,but how do YOU define pathology?

I share your fascination with aberrant specimens,BTW

 

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Ok,here are my thoughts:

"Pathology" implies disease, or in any case a deviation from a totally normal,"healthy" state

"Teratotology" implies developmental anomalies.

"Deformity" :deviation from the statistically considered normal morphology(adult or juvenile) due to e.g. breakage,uneven loading of the tooth(teeth) for whatever reason

Sexual dimorphism might further confound the issue,BTW

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

Ok,here are my thoughts:

"Pathology" implies disease, or in any case a deviation from a totally normal,"healthy" state

"Teratotology" implies developmental anomalies.

"Deformity" :deviation from the statistically considered normal morphology(adult or juvenile) due to e.g. breakage,uneven loading of the tooth(teeth) for whatever reason

Sexual dimorphism might further confound the issue,BTW

that is a lot of different things! Do you think it is any of those?

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I'm looking at this,now

BTW: I do NOT (usually) collect shark teeth,but this forum has had a bad influence on me,so who knowsB):P

bifcragofis.jpg

 

 

 

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maybe third from the left on the top? It looks like it curves in in the middle of the blade a bit.

2 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

Ok,here's a sample(Miocene ,Gatun(from Pimiento et al,PLOS): any pathologie visible?

bidastcajjes.jpg

 

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Here is a good description of what constitutes pathological teeth in sharks:

 

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/00241160050150249/abstract

 

“Pathologic tooth deformities in modern and fossil chondrichthians: a consequence of feeding-related injury”, Martin A. Becker et al., published in Lethaia.

 

Abstract

 

"Deformed teeth are found as rare components of the dentitions of both modern and fossil chondrichthians. Tooth deformities occur as bent or twisted tooth crowns, missing or misshaped cusps, atypical protuberances, perforations, and abnormal root structures. Deformed tooth files consisting of unusually overlapped or small teeth, or teeth misaligned in the jaw also occur in modern forms, but deformed tooth files generally are not recognizable in fossils due to post-mortem dissociation of teeth and jaws. A survey of 200 modern lamniform and carcharhiniform sharks as well as literature sources indicate that such deformities are produced by feeding-related injury to the tooth-forming tissue of the jaws, particularly by impaction of chondrichthian and teleost fin and tail spines. Tooth counts for several late Cretaceous genera, based on material recovered from coastal plain sites from New Jersey to Alabama, suggest that the frequency of occurrence of deformed teeth in a species varies from about 0.015% in Squalicorax kaupi to about 0.36% in Paranomotodon sp. Tooth counts for modern lamniform and carcharhiniform sharks yield a comparable range in frequency of tooth deformities. Variation in frequency of tooth deformity may reflect interspecific differences in feeding behavior and dietary preferences. There is no suggestion in our data of any strong patterns of temporal variation in tooth deformity frequency, or of patterns ­reflecting chondrichthian phylogenetic history and evolution. Skeletal components of the probable prey of the Cretaceous species are preserved in the same horizons as the deformed teeth, and also are found within co-occurring chondrichthian coprolites."

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

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4 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Here is a good description of what constitutes pathological teeth in sharks:

 

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/00241160050150249/abstract

 

“Pathologic tooth deformities in modern and fossil chondrichthians: a consequence of feeding-related injury”, Martin A. Becker et al., published in Lethaia.

 

Abstract

Deformed teeth are found as rare components of the dentitions of both modern and fossil chondrichthians. Tooth deformities occur as bent or twisted tooth crowns, missing or misshaped cusps, atypical protuberances, perforations, and abnormal root structures. Deformed tooth files consisting of unusually overlapped or small teeth, or teeth misaligned in the jaw also occur in modern forms, but deformed tooth files generally are not recognizable in fossils due to post-mortem dissociation of teeth and jaws. A survey of 200 modern lamniform and carcharhiniform sharks as well as literature sources indicate that such deformities are produced by feeding-related injury to the tooth-forming tissue of the jaws, particularly by impaction of chondrichthian and teleost fin and tail spines. Tooth counts for several late Cretaceous genera, based on material recovered from coastal plain sites from New Jersey to Alabama, suggest that the frequency of occurrence of deformed teeth in a species varies from about 0.015% in Squalicorax kaupi to about 0.36% in Paranomotodon sp. Tooth counts for modern lamniform and carcharhiniform sharks yield a comparable range in frequency of tooth deformities. Variation in frequency of tooth deformity may reflect interspecific differences in feeding behavior and dietary preferences. There is no suggestion in our data of any strong patterns of temporal variation in tooth deformity frequency, or of patterns ­reflecting chondrichthian phylogenetic history and evolution. Skeletal components of the probable prey of the Cretaceous species are preserved in the same horizons as the deformed teeth, and also are found within co-occurring chondrichthian coprolites.

Cool! My best guess would be maybe improper tooth alignment for the tooth, not enough spacing could lead to a much more narrow tooth than usual, right? I think it mentioned that as one of its options.

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7 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

I'm leaving this thread,BTW

Cya,Matt.Good luck with your collecting efforts

bifcragofis.jpg

Thank you for your insight!

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what insight are you talking of?I was just getting started with providing "insight".

Like I said ,hope you find loads of pathological teeth.

You deserve them

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, doushantuo said:

what insight are you talking of?I was just getting started with providing "insight".

Like I said ,hope you find loads of pathological teeth.

You deserve them

Haha thanks :) I should probably go to bed what with it being 3 am

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if you do sleep,well

If you're interested i might PM you some stuff related to the subject.

it would be "technical".

 

 

 

 

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The tooth in the auction listing is a lower anterior tooth. Megalodon teeth in that position have narrow blades.

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5 hours ago, mattbsharks said:

Hi Everyone, I have become very interested in pathologic megalodon teeth recently.

I was looking at teeth listed on auction sites, and came across one so called pathologic tooth that looks a lot like one i am currently restoring.  

 

My questions are, is the auction tooth actually pathologically deformed? And if so, is my tooth also pathologically deformed?

 

Matt, 

Please do not post links to sellers' websites. If you have a question about a fossil, please post pictures of the fossil, rather than the links. 

Thanks for your cooperation. 

Regards, 

Tim

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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  If you want to see some beautiful malformations and pathology you need to search for pathological otodus teeth in a Google image search.  My assumption is just the massive amount of teeth and commercial availability of these teeth accounts for the abundance of images online. There were a few in the post ynot put up .. but check it out. 

 

  Personally I've seen pathological teeth down on the gulf coast of Otodus teeth.  Not sure if anyone else has noticed but they have become very popular in the tourist trap gift shops in locations like Gulf Shores.  Megs from NC and SC have started showing up as well....  Of course I love it just to 'browse' ... haha.

 

Cheers,

Brett

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