tatehntr Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 So, I've recently been collecting sharks teeth at my local beach in North Carolina. Compared to teeth at most beaches I've hunted growing up, these are quite beat up. Out of the roughly 200 teeth from the past few weeks, I'd estimate that probably 75-90% of them are broken. Nearly every Great White tooth has been vertically fractured, usually cutting corners off of my precious babies. Is this just due to searching in the surf where the teeth are constantly being thrown around? I have been searching for teeth on similar beaches my whole life and have never seen such a high ratio of broken:whole teeth. Would be curious to hear everyone's input on why this might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Claw Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Photos might help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Part of the reason could be how far they travel from point of origin,to the surf. The longer they are tossed around the more beat up they will be. Also would depend if they are reworked. I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazfossilator Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I find a lot of broken teeth and various beat up stuff at Myrtle beach, Darktooth is right some of them have been beaten by many long years in the ocean. I also believe that some of the teeth are damaged by dredging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 The originating strata are probably a ways away from that beach, and the teeth are thus 'well traveled'. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Not nessecarily with yours but to cover some other methods of fracture: At places with cliffs, the thirty foot fall can’t help. Teeth are more fragile than you’d think. They do seem to have certain weak planes of cleavage, like wood grain. Waves will beat them up easy and quick. Some where broken back in the day, with the bite force of these animals it’s not suprising some cracked after hitting bone or whatever those critters were chewing on. It would take pictures to determine which happened to yours. “...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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Or a selachophobe is breaking all the teeth with a hammer. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 Are they heavily worn, or just broken up? If the latter, it might be a replenished beach, with offshore sand dredged and pumped through pipes. That can tear them up. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatehntr Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 For those asking for pictures, here are a few. They seem to be all broken in almost the exact same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatehntr Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 Also, I believe I am finding these teeth as a result of dredging. I hadn't thought about the teeth being pumped through pipes, that seems to make a lot of sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 15 minutes ago, tatehntr said: Also, I believe I am finding these teeth as a result of dredging. I hadn't thought about the teeth being pumped through pipes, that seems to make a lot of sense. They also have to go through the pump impeller which has a specific size orifice, defining pump size. All of your examples being broken in the same way and direction implies to an old sand miner like me, they were hit by the impeller flights. Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 @tatehntr which beach are you referring to. There are quite a few beaches in NC that produce shark teeth that are not broken, although they are almost always extremely worn. There are several beaches that have just completed dredge projects. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatehntr Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 @sixgillpete Yes, I think it must be due to dredging. Wrightsville beach has been productive and they recently finished a beach restoration project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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