Shark teeth + possible Xiphactinus(?) from NJ Cretaceous

[frankh8147]

Hello!

 

These were all found in Monmouth County, New Jersey (Late Cretaceous).

 

I have believed the first tooth to be Xiphactinus Vetus for years but am a little thrown off by the general texture of it and after searching images of Xiphactinus teeth, I can't find another that looks similar. I have found deteriorated Mosasaur teeth with a similar appearance so I was wondering if it could just be stream-worn. The tooth is about an 1.5 inches long, has two very defined cutting edges and a nice curve (which are all consistent with X. Vetus). The last thing I could add - it either has 'fluting' or is faceted but I'm not sure how to determine that.

 

The second set of pictures is of different shark teeth from the same location. 

 

As always, all help is greatly appreciated! -Frank

[frankh8147]

And the sharks.. 4 teeth total, I included the group shot for a size reference.

[Al Dente]

It looks like Xiphactinus to me. It looks like the normal cracks in the enamel have weathered and expanded giving the tooth an unusual texture.

[Darktooth]

It's a beautiful tooth Frank! A great find!

[The Jersey Devil]

Hi Frank,

Yep, that is a Xiphactinus vetus tooth. Its features will be harder to make out because of abrasion. The shark teeth in the group shot, from left to right, are a pathological Squalicorax “kaupi”, an upper lateral Scapanorhynchus texanus, a Serratolamna serrata lateral (nice find, pretty rare), and an Archaeolamna kopingensis posterior.

 

Joseph

[frankh8147]

Thanks everyone! I'm really glad that one tooth ended up Xiphactinus - I was pretty sold on Xiphactinus but wanted to be sure since I have used it as a reference piece.

 

[DD1991]

On 12/13/2018 at 2:43 PM, The Jersey Devil said:

Hi Frank,

Yep, that is a Xiphactinus vetus tooth. Its features will be harder to make out because of abrasion. The shark teeth in the group shot, from left to right, are a pathological Squalicorax “kaupi”, an upper lateral Scapanorhynchus texanus, a Serratolamna serrata lateral (nice find, pretty rare), and an Archaeolamna kopingensis posterior.

 

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Xiphactinus vetus was described as the new genus Polygonodon by Leidy (1856), several years before Xiphactinus was described from the Santonian-early Campanian of Kansas, and that Polygonodon was misidentified as a mosasaur in the original description and in some later publications before being recognized as a fish by Dale Russell in his 1967 publication on North American mosasaur. Although currently referred to Xiphactinus (Schwimmer et al. 1997 noted the widespread use of Xiphactinus in most literature on prehistoric bony fish compared to Polygonodon), the known material for X. vetus is very sparse, consisting only of teeth and vertebrae, and the name Polygonodon may be revalidated for X. vetus on the basis of new material, given that X. vetus is younger than X. audax (DeMar and Breithaupt 2006 as well as Schwimmer et al. 1997 refer material from the Mesaverde Group of Colorado and middle-late Campanian age deposits in the Gulf Coast Plain to X. vetus, although future study may reveal that more than one taxon of Xiphactinus-like fish existed in the middle Campanian to Maastrichtian of the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains in eastern North America).   

 

DeMar, D.G.,  and Breithaupt, B.H., 2006. The nonmammalian vertebrate microfossil assemblages of the Mesaverde Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of the Wind River and Bighorn Basins, Wyoming. In S. G. Lucas and R. M. Sullivan (eds.), Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35:33-54

 

Leidy, J., 1856. Notices of remains of extinct vertebrated animals of New Jersey, collected by Prof. Cook of the State Geological Survey under the direction of Dr. W. Kitchell.  Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8: 220-221.

 

Schwimmer, D. R., Stewart, J.D., and Williams, G.D., 1997. Xiphactinus vetus and the distribution of Xiphactinus species in the eastern United States. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology  17 (3): 610-615.