Behmah Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hello, I was strolling my local beach this morning & was pleasantly surprised to see this little guy sitting at the shoreline. I live in Chelsea, Melbourne, Victoria. Was wondering what kind of shark it’s from, and roughly how old the fossil may be? Thank you in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 That's a beautiful great white shark tooth! As far as I know, Melbourne is a mostly Miocene-Pliocene site. Welcome to the forum 2 If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Looks like Macro got it. Love the colors on this tooth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Behmah Posted September 25, 2018 Author Share Posted September 25, 2018 How exciting. I had no idea it would be so old. Thank you kindly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Macrophyseter said: That's a beautiful great white shark tooth! As far as I know, Melbourne is a mostly Miocene-Pliocene site. Welcome to the forum Hard to generalise, there are many different formations over a large area Most likely Miocene though. And congrats, GWs are very uncommon around there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan 1000 Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Nice Find! May I ask which beach you found it? The closest site where I know great white teeth can be found is Beaumaris but it is unlikely (But still possible) the tooth came from there. Could also be aged Holocene as holocene material from dugongs has also been found dredged up in Port Phillip Bay so it could also be a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Behmah Posted September 25, 2018 Author Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hi Guys Thanks for the enthusiasm. I have been walking on Chelsea beach a few times a week for 7 years, certainly never come across anything like this! You May be interested to see the email response from Museums Victoria: “Thank you for your identification enquiry. While it’s difficult to be 100% sure from images alone, our experts have responded that the tooth is likely to be that of a Cosmopolotodus (Isurus) hastalis, making it around 5 million years old.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 8 minutes ago, Behmah said: Hi Guys Thanks for the enthusiasm. I have been walking on Chelsea beach a few times a week for 7 years, certainly never come across anything like this! You May be interested to see the email response from Museums Victoria: “Thank you for your identification enquiry. While it’s difficult to be 100% sure from images alone, our experts have responded that the tooth is likely to be that of a Cosmopolotodus (Isurus) hastalis, making it around 5 million years old.” Behmah, Gorgeous tooth and a very nice find for you. As @caldigger said, that tooth has beautiful coloring. 2 issues / disagreements with the museum's potential identification of your tooth. 1st and foremost - C. hastalis aren't typically serrated, yet your tooth appears to have uniform serrations down the full length of both sides of the blade, implying it is a Great White (Carcharodon carcharias) tooth; 2nd - "If" your tooth is a hastalis, the species hastalis was moved to the genus Carcharodon several years ago. This is the same genus as the Great White (Carcharodon carcharias), but obviously not the same species. C. hastalis is the "broad toothed white shark." Just my opinion, which is offered free of charge. Cheers, SA2 2 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...
Macrophyseter Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Behmah said: it’s difficult to be 100% sure from images alone, our experts have responded that the tooth is likely to be that of a Cosmopolotodus (Isurus) hastalis, making it around 5 million years old.” Like SA2 said, the tooth is unlikely to be that of C. hastalis has the tooth posseses full serrations on both sides. However, I can see that the serrations may be hard to view on a smaller screen and I believe that might be the reason for error. Technically the consensus for the genera is still disputed. Still, I'd recommend that either Cosmopolitodus or Carcharodon be used as they both go with the overwhelming evidence. If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilselachian Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Museum may need a "brush-up" on fossil shark taxonomy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Behmah Posted September 26, 2018 Author Share Posted September 26, 2018 Amazing thanks for the expertise, champs! I love the colour also. You’re quite right. This tooth is definitely serrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connah Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Hi @Behmah as others have mentioned this tooth is most definitely not Carcharodon hastalis which have no serrations & is in fact Carcharodon carcharias (Great White). While uncommon to find along the beaches close to Beaumaris they do occasionally turn up. This example is a beautiful tooth & you should be really chuffed with your find. Connah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now