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Shark Tooth ID Greater Hammerhead?


sharko69

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I have found three of these teeth and am wondering what type they are. I am thinking Hammerhead but with serrations it would have to be greater hammerhead. These teeth come from Galveston Island and I believe theme to be Pleistocene. We find several types of Carcharhinus species of teeth on the beach along with lemon, tiger, sand tiger and have seen a couple of great whites that another hunter has found. These teeth are much more robust than the Carcharhinus teeth and the nutrient grove is deep and long. Any help is appreciated.

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Lower Hemipristis serra? I'm uncertain of that, and if they would have been around as late as pleistocene. Take it with a grain, as I'm new at this. Good luck.

 

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22 minutes ago, MrR said:

Lower Hemipristis serra? I'm uncertain of that, and if they would have been around as late as pleistocene. Take it with a grain, as I'm new at this. Good luck.

 

Thank you. I am certain it is not a Hemi. I appreciate the input though.

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Agreed that it is not a Hemi (salt grain taken ;)) but I'm not so sure it is a Hammerhead either. I'm absolutely terrible at identifying fossil teeth in the genus Sphyrna (Hammerhead Sharks) and I'm sure I have lots in my collection that have gone unrecognized. The little I know about teeth from this genus is that they are supposed to have a distinct notch on the distal side that is referred to as the "hammerhead notch". I'm not seeing that on your specimens (other than possibly the third one). The following link may prove informative:

 

https://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/vert/fish-shark/sphyrna/sphyrna.htm

 

I wonder if @Al Dente would like to chime in on this one?

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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I think they are some type of Charcharhinus. I’ve tried to match them with a modern species but didn’t have much success. 

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5 hours ago, sharko69 said:

I am thinking Hammerhead but with serrations it would have to be greater hammerhead.

 

Other species of extant hammerhead sharks, in addition to the great hammerhead, can also have serrated teeth.  Below are extant great hammerhead teeth (labial and lingual views) for you to compare your teeth to.  Also below is a link to one of my posts on an extant great hammerhead jaw.  Not all of the above teeth look like great hammerhead teeth but the third tooth does to me:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/64506-extant-sphyrna-mokarran-great-hammerhead-shark-jaw/?p=674826

 

5c32956c564be_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower18mm2.thumb.jpg.9a9cb24c705c5743ddc66fadeec31bcc.jpg

5c32956e210b0_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower18mm.thumb.jpg.d54f6220f3b72d7780073fc91cd68ae9.jpg

5c3295700e313_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower218mm2.thumb.jpg.22ac954c9eae722f2562cb469aac5b6f.jpg

5c329571d9e3a_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower218mm.thumb.jpg.2886b1b5bfd8b3421ca553a2e08053fd.jpg

5c3295739acb1_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower316mm2.thumb.jpg.88a454d74975505a2045e3a65762174f.jpg

5c329575953c1_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Lower316mm.thumb.jpg.83e32e54f0b295b5d3cc0b1de0a240dd.jpg

5c3295777cc10_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper18mm2.thumb.jpg.1aa22622bb099c207f91444fe5b0e6cb.jpg

5c3295795a2a0_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper18mm.thumb.jpg.9b6a6e0d598f8b0b6dc3b466467c5704.jpg

5c32957b03ce5_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper214mm2.thumb.jpg.7dabdd049bb5cb507a0cd53e29925200.jpg

5c32957c9a671_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper214mm.thumb.jpg.c39b6a0951e30b9f86a9fd1c98442ff8.jpg

5c32957eac43b_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper318mm2.thumb.jpg.bf34dbf7ae10d2c0c1f6b633ce65d2c3.jpg

5c329580c728a_Sphyrnamokarran(GreatHammerheadShark)Upper318mm.thumb.jpg.6006401949092ef90fef04300143d74b.jpg

 

Marco Sr.

 

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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4 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

 

Other species of extant hammerhead sharks, in addition to the great hammerhead, can also have serrated teeth.  Below are extant great hammerhead teeth (labial and lingual views) for you to compare your teeth to.  Also below is a link to one of my posts on an extant great hammerhead jaw.  Not all of the above teeth look like great hammerhead teeth but the third tooth does to me:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/64506-extant-sphyrna-mokarran-great-hammerhead-shark-jaw/?p=674826

 

Marco Sr.

 

After looking at your link I am even more convinced they are lower hammerhead teeth. I have some Miocene that I found at STH that show the distinct notch but I see that it is not always present. The Miocene teeth I have also lack serrations.

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6 minutes ago, sharko69 said:

After looking at your link I am even more convinced they are lower hammerhead teeth. I have some Miocene that I found at STH that show the distinct notch but I see that it is not always present. The Miocene teeth I have also lack serrations.

 

There are two extant genera (Eusphyra and Sphyrna) with eight species of Sphyrnidae, Hammerhead sharks.  Most of the species have teeth without serrations.  The great hammerhead has serrated teeth and has the most robust teeth of the family with other hammerhead species having thinner teeth.  Several species can have both individuals with serrated teeth and other individuals with teeth that are not serrated.  Unfortunately I haven't taken pictures of the other species of hammerhead jaws in my collection yet.  Below are pictures of extant Sphyrna lewini (Scalloped Hammerhead Shark) (labial and lingual views) teeth that I do have for comparison.

 

5c32bbc45bbd3_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower11mm2.thumb.jpg.7ebcffddbc8c6007cc5d611805991cd3.jpg

5c32bbc6cce3f_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower11mm.thumb.jpg.bcecaedd75afbf59c11433424f943851.jpg

5c32bbc8b0ef0_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower210mm2.jpg.7a598fe311cc58eded0be9f13dca5adb.jpg

5c32bbcad6f05_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower210mm.jpg.42292786e32c89553de228f911127318.jpg

5c32bbcd5c2a3_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower311_5mm2.thumb.jpg.b1f248ead3fe67527466744dae64935c.jpg

5c32bbd01c4a8_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Lower311_5mm.thumb.jpg.fa2d18cfe6ff8d81774d0d8256834592.jpg

5c32bbd33f8d7_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper13_5mm2.thumb.jpg.e68e643f4f9c93d93d3ebaf10821d211.jpg

5c32bbd5c291f_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper13_5mm.thumb.jpg.43be799f8ca9f9b467aab800ae14f3e5.jpg

5c32bbd7b0df8_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper211mm2.jpg.552df09f33ba21ba418412c42cdfd8c6.jpg

5c32bbd9a54c9_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper211mm.jpg.94047c0a1b83332fc53e0ec40c8990c8.jpg

5c32bbdbd3015_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper313mm2.thumb.jpg.044615a9c875187e91718dd453a7921a.jpg

5c32bbddbb54b_Sphyrnalewini(ScallopedHammerheadShark)Upper313mm.thumb.jpg.2e8f0020bb138f91fa022beec90e68e1.jpg

 

 

Marco Sr.

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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My first thought agreed with Marco's in that #3 seems most like a  hammerhead.   #2 seemed possibly carchariniform and #1 was the most unique, but most confusing.   Considering everything and accepting that 1 is hammerhead and they are all from the same locality makes me think they likely all are hammerhead.

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

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For what it's worth, here's my opinion:

 

I would say the first one looks like some kind of  Carcharhinus type shark.  The teeth of  Carcharhinus sp. are highly variable.  The second one doesn't look like a hammerhead to me, it doesn't have the right type of shoulder (in my opinion).   It might also be some type of Carcharhinus variation. 

 

However, the third tooth looks like a typical hammerhead, plus serrations.  Modern ones have serrations, so I wouldn't see why you couldn't find a fossil one with serrations. The root with the 'hammerhead notch' looks like it's just eroded a little bit.

 

I attached a typical hammerhead tooth with I.D. characteristics from my hammerhead page:

https://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/vert/fish-shark/sphyrna/sphyrna.htm

hammerhead-sharktooth-identification.jpg.c5ce4ffe14884c41bea98e11c3aa496e.jpg

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On 1/7/2019 at 2:50 PM, fossilguy said:

For what it's worth, here's my opinion:

 

I would say the first one looks like some kind of  Carcharhinus type shark.  The teeth of  Carcharhinus sp. are highly variable.  The second one doesn't look like a hammerhead to me, it doesn't have the right type of shoulder (in my opinion).   It might also be some type of Carcharhinus variation. 

 

However, the third tooth looks like a typical hammerhead, plus serrations.  Modern ones have serrations, so I wouldn't see why you couldn't find a fossil one with serrations. The root with the 'hammerhead notch' looks like it's just eroded a little bit.

 

I attached a typical hammerhead tooth with I.D. characteristics from my hammerhead page:

https://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/vert/fish-shark/sphyrna/sphyrna.htm

hammerhead-sharktooth-identification.jpg.c5ce4ffe14884c41bea98e11c3aa496e.jpg

 

Thank you. The reason I did not think Carcharhinus is the robust root and deep nutrient groove. The convex shoulder and “notch” also is not as appearent on the extent examples that Marco SR posted. I am still leaning towards hammerhead, at least for the first and third. Here is an example of a more classic fossil example I found in California.

F1BA9FBE-3103-4F89-BC5A-5BDF28C69986.jpeg

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On 1/6/2019 at 7:02 PM, MarcoSr said:

 

Other species of extant hammerhead sharks, in addition to the great hammerhead, can also have serrated teeth.  Below are extant great hammerhead teeth (labial and lingual views) for you to compare your teeth to.  Also below is a link to one of my posts on an extant great hammerhead jaw.  Not all of the above teeth look like great hammerhead teeth but the third tooth does to me:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/64506-extant-sphyrna-mokarran-great-hammerhead-shark-jaw/?p=674826

 

Marco Sr.

 

Thank you. Great information and examples to compare to. 

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