The Headless Horseman of Bayfront Park

[HoppeHunting]

I found this at Bayfront Park/Brownie's Beach in Maryland. This tooth is in decent condition aside from its lack of a root. This might make it more difficult to identify, but you can still identify from the crown alone sometimes. It is almost an inch in length. It has a smooth enamel with no striations, and a defined cutting edge that does not extend all the way up the crown. Rather, it stop about 2/3 of the way to the top on both sides. From a side view, the tooth does curve much like a Sand Tiger. It also has a very large protuberance at the top of the crown where it would meet the root. Although this is a characteristic of lower Hemipristis serra teeth, I do not believe that to be the correct identification because those teeth are conical and lack a cutting edge. Everything is leading me to believe that this is a massive Sand Tiger tooth, but I don't know for certain. I've gotten Sand Tiger teeth bigger than this from Purse State Park, but nothing even close to it at a Miocene exposure. If it had a root, it would be a pretty big chomper. Do Sand Tigers in this area/age get that big? 

 

I've included pictures of the tooth from the front, both side views, and the back. I understand if it is difficult to identify because of the missing root (and possibly cusps). I would be thrilled if I turn out to be correct. That would make this tooth my biggest Sand Tiger from a Miocene site. If you can confirm that it is a Sand Tiger, I would love to hear what species it is from if that is at all possible to determine. There are so many species that come from Calvert Cliffs! Thanks for the help.

[Darktooth]

Hemipritis lower

[caldigger]

33 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

Hemipritis lower

I'm not seeing any sign of serrations. The pics look as if it still has a sharp edge, so I don't think they are worn smooth.

[HoppeHunting]

54 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

Hemipritis lower

I think you're right. After comparing this tooth with some of my large and complete lower Hemis, I'm definitely leaning more towards it being a Hemi. Although some lower Hemis have entirely conical crowns, many do have a cutting edge that extends only partially up towards the root. In a side by side with a tooth I found on the same trip, it looks like a near perfect match, simply missing the root. I'm convinced that it is a lower Hemi, but I'm still open to other replies, especially because of the tooth's condition. 

[caldigger]

I went back and researched some of my Hemi lowers and looked at a few online examples and feel I must correct myself. Although, several of mine and internet photos show some have serrations, many do not. Or at least they may have some weak ones down near the root, which is missing in this case. 

I will cast a vote for the lower.

[HoppeHunting]

3 minutes ago, caldigger said:

...some have serrations, many do not. Or at least they may have some weak ones down near the root, which is missing in this case. 

Yes, most of the lower Hemis that I have found lack serrations, but I have found a few that have them. Check out the Hop 5 from my most recent trip to Brownie's. I think it's entirely possible we could all be wrong, but we'll hand it over to the experts. Any help/confirmation would still be much appreciated!

[Darktooth]

6 hours ago, HoppeFossilHunting said:

Yes, most of the lower Hemis that I have found lack serrations, but I have found a few that have them. Check out the Hop 5 from my most recent trip to Brownie's. I think it's entirely possible we could all be wrong, but we'll hand it over to the experts. Any help/confirmation would still be much appreciated!

I have found many lower Hemi's from this locale. The majority of them lack serrations especially the smaller they are. My biggest tooth from there has the most and well pronounced serrations.

I will post picks later when I get home.