Shark tooth found this morning

[Behmah]

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!

[Macrophyseter]

That's a beautiful great white shark tooth! As far as I know, Melbourne is a mostly Miocene-Pliocene site.

 

Welcome to the forum 

[caldigger]

Looks like Macro got it.

Love the colors on this tooth!

[Behmah]

How exciting. I had no idea it would be so old. Thank you kindly!

[izak_]

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! 

 

[Dan 1000]

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.

[Behmah]

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.”

 

[SailingAlongToo]

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

[Macrophyseter]

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.

 

[fossilselachian]

Museum may need a "brush-up" on fossil shark taxonomy.

[Behmah]

Amazing thanks for the expertise, champs! I love the colour also.

You’re quite right. This tooth is definitely serrated. 

[Connah]

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.