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Megalodon tooth damage?


Nimravis

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So the other day I was at a doctors appointment with my wife and when she was seeing the doctor I went on an on-line auction site and thought I would look around to see what was for sale. I came across the below Megalodon tooth that was a "Buy it Now". The tooth was 4 5/16" in length and the serrations and tip were nice. I was going to keep looking at the other items, but I then thought that I saw something on the blade. I zoomed up on the pic and it appeared to show signs that this tooth came in contact with another of its teeth, leaving serration scars on the tooth in 2 places, so i decided to buy it for that reason. I would appreciate any Meg collector to take a peek at the pictures and let me know if I am correct.

 

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9 hours ago, Nimravis said:

So the other day I was at a doctors appointment with my wife and when she was seeing the doctor I went on an on-line auction site and thought I would look around to see what was for sale. I came across the below Megalodon tooth that was a "Buy it Now". The tooth was 4 5/16" in length and the serrations and tip were nice. I was going to keep looking at the other items, but I then thought that I saw something on the blade. I zoomed up on the pic and it appeared to show signs that this tooth came in contact with another of its teeth, leaving serration scars on the tooth in 2 places, so i decided to buy it for that reason. I would appreciate any Meg collector to take a peek at the pictures and let me know if I am correct.

 

It could have been damaged during fossilization.

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Ralph, 

I moved this to it's own topic, to get more eyes on it.  ;) 

Pretty neat pathology. 

I'm wondering if he went mouth to mouth with another shark, or if it is pathological due to scraping against it's own other teeth?

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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18 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

I'm wondering if he went mouth to mouth with another shark, or if it is pathological due to scraping against it's own other teeth?

I think it highly plausible that the marks were made as the specimen tooth was lost during feeding and encountered a remaining tooth in the chomping process.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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32 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Ralph, 

I moved this to it's own topic, to get more eyes on it.  ;) 

Pretty neat pathology. 

I'm wondering if he went mouth to mouth with another shark, or if it is pathological due to scraping against it's own other teeth?

Regards,

I was thinking Tooth to Tooth while eating. And thanks for moving it, after I posted I was wondering if it would get a lot of views in that  section- though I do like that thread on Mailbox finds.

10 minutes ago, snolly50 said:

I think it highly plausible that the marks were made as the specimen tooth was lost during feeding and encountered a remaining tooth in the chomping process.

Thanks-That’s what I believe.

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Nice buy:dinothumb:

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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50 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Neat pickup...its a shame we did have a GoPro attached to the jaw to see exactly how it occurred.

I agree.

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It's very cool to think about. Or maybe it's a mark from machinery if it was from a quarry or work site?

Yorkshire Coast Fossil Hunter

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9 minutes ago, LiamL said:

It's very cool to think about. Or maybe it's a mark from machinery if it was from a quarry or work site?

It was a scuba recovery near Savanna, Georgia.

i really feel that these match the  striations of a tooth and would have been made while the Meg was alive.

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No doubt that this tooth was scrapped by another tooth/other teeth in the jaw when it was shed probably during feeding.  Although not common at all to find teeth like this, I've seen others that are similar.  I also see scrape marks like these on cetacean bones from being fed upon.  Great acquisition!  I don't buy fossil teeth but I probably would have bought this one if I saw it.

 

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

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1 hour ago, MarcoSr said:

No doubt that this tooth was scrapped by another tooth/other teeth in the jaw when it was shed probably during feeding.  Although not common at all to find teeth like this, I've seen others that are similar.  I also see scrape marks like these on cetacean bones from being fed upon.  Great acquisition!  I don't buy fossil teeth but I probably would have bought this one if I saw it.

 

Marco Sr.

Same here Marco, I saw that and noticed that the seller did not mention anything on it and I decided that it was a good buy and overall, it is a very nice tooth.

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Nice Acquisition..  VERY rare. I agree damage while shedding a tooth during feeding frenzy. The distance is compatible with the serrations on the tooth.

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The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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5 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Nice Acquisition..  VERY rare. I agree damage while shedding a tooth during feeding frenzy. The distance is compatible with the serrations on the tooth.

HemiPristisSerraSbyS.jpg.c45cb66912a3a31649317bf6ae5be290.jpg

Thanks- and I was thinking the same thing about the serrations. Is that your Hemi ? Very nice.

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2 hours ago, Nimravis said:

Thanks- and I was thinking the same thing about the serrations. Is that your Hemi ? Very nice.

Thanks, I am very fortunate to be in a shark tooth rich environment. Personal finds have memories associated with them. From the date on the photo, I know where I was and who was my hunting partner.

The only times I buy shark teeth is when I see a great deal: $10 each for 2 inch perfect Makos; these I purchase as presents for family members or fossil club auction items.

I occasionally purchase mammal material not easily available to me. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/77503-5-pre_equus-horse-teeth/

These horse teeth came out of Bone Valley phosphate mines in the 1980s

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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Nice buy. I always love fossils that tell a story about when they were alive. It makes them feel more "real" (if that makes any sense). Lol

~Charlie~

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These marks are definitely from another shark tooth. If you look on the bourlette, you can tell that the damage is old, not fresh because of the dullness and smoothness of the divot around the serration marks. Although megalodons were very powerful sharks, I do not believe this tooth would have been scraped just from bumping into another tooth. Here is how I imagine it went down. The megalodon sights on a massive whale. It goes in for the kill and chomps down. The teeth smash bone and another one is dislodged, striking this tooth and leaving a mark. If this tooth itself had been dislodged in feeding, It would not have such nice serration, any thing that strikes bone will not look this nice afterwards. I hope this can help

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8 hours ago, mattbsharks said:

These marks are definitely from another shark tooth. If you look on the bourlette, you can tell that the damage is old, not fresh because of the dullness and smoothness of the divot around the serration marks. Although megalodons were very powerful sharks, I do not believe this tooth would have been scraped just from bumping into another tooth. Here is how I imagine it went down. The megalodon sights on a massive whale. It goes in for the kill and chomps down. The teeth smash bone and another one is dislodged, striking this tooth and leaving a mark. If this tooth itself had been dislodged in feeding, It would not have such nice serration, any thing that strikes bone will not look this nice afterwards. I hope this can help

I agree with you- I figured that it happened during feeding.

 

Thanks for your input.

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On 11/23/2017 at 6:13 PM, Shellseeker said:

Thanks, I am very fortunate to be in a shark tooth rich environment. Personal finds have memories associated with them. From the date on the photo, I know where I was and who was my hunting partner.

The only times I buy shark teeth is when I see a great deal: $10 each for 2 inch perfect Makos; these I purchase as presents for family members or fossil club auction items.

I occasionally purchase mammal material not easily available to me. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/77503-5-pre_equus-horse-teeth/

These horse teeth came out of Bone Valley phosphate mines in the 1980s

I just read a story from the UK Daily Mail that if you trace back your family history only a thousand years you will find that everyone with European heritage is related to each other: LINK.  So, cousin, when do I get my gift Mako tooth?

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If you have a sense of fossils and time to fossilize, it is interesting to note that the vast majority of fossil were created with no or very few humans during fossilizing of shark teeth and the fact that Europe was one of the last great land masses colonized.  An interesting human population map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_world#/media/File:World_population_growth_(lin-log_scale).png

 

Before I can hand any more out,  I have to refresh my store of high quality Makos purchased inexpensively.  As you might guess , I have issues with supply and demand with many more relatives and friends seeking larger shark teeth. Christmas is an especially challenging time. I always take 10 pounds of small perfect teeth to hand out to children at Christmas parties. I am a very popular uncle, great uncle, etc with the kids.

 

 

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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10 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

If you have a sense of fossils and time to fossilize, it is interesting to note that the vast majority of fossil were created with no or very few humans during fossilizing of shark teeth and the fact that Europe was one of the last great land masses colonized.  An interesting human population map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_world#/media/File:World_population_growth_(lin-log_scale).png

 

Before I can hand any more out,  I have to refresh my store of high quality Makos purchased inexpensively.  As you might guess , I have issues with supply and demand with many more relatives and friends seeking larger shark teeth. Christmas is an especially challenging time. I always take 10 pounds of small perfect teeth to hand out to children at Christmas parties. I am a very popular uncle, great uncle, etc with the kids.

 

 

Thanks Uncle, I forget where we are meeting for Christmas? I do have the couple lumps of Illinois coal that you wanted in exchange for a 5 lb bag of your "small perfect teeth". :ighappy:

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