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Help to ID shark tooth from Bakersfield


JBMugu

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Hello,

found this tooth in the Round Mountain Silt formation in Bakersfield this weekend. The tooth had serrations, but they are worn down. At first I thought the tooth was a small meg, or a large hemi.

Upon closer inspection it does not seem to fit either of those species well. The root is not consistent with that of a meg nor a hemi.  Now I am thinking it could be some kind of Requiem shark. What do you guys think?

 

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Carcharhinus obscurus (LeSUEUR, 1818)
Dusky shark
Very scarce in the STH fauna. (according to elasmo.)

 

 

Edit- missed this one by a mile ao two.:doh!::blush::blush:

Change My opinion to agree with the common consensus of a meg.

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Not to question Tony on a fauna he knows infinitely better than me but that would be a whomping big Dusky Shark tooth. The thickness of this tooth and the faint appearance of a bourlette in the first photo had me leaning to a small (young or posterior) meg tooth. Willing to be educated. ;)

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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My resources show the Dusky being 1/8" -3/4" in size and having a very defined nutrient groove in the center of the root.

I'm no expert, but the thickness on this guy screams Meg. to me 

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52 minutes ago, digit said:

Not to question Tony on a fauna he knows infinitely better than me but that would be a whomping big Dusky Shark tooth. The thickness of this tooth and the faint appearance of a bourlette in the first photo had me leaning to a small (young or posterior) meg tooth. Willing to be educated. ;)

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

I agree with Ken on this. Undoubtedly a small or young worn meg to me.

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image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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45 minutes ago, caldigger said:

My resources show the Dusky being 1/8" -3/4" in size and having a very defined nutrient groove in the center of the root.

I'm no expert, but the thickness on this guy screams Meg. to me 

 

I agree, this is probably too big for a dusky. However, as far as I know megs at STH are mature adults sharks. I have never seen a juvenile tooth from this location.

 

Here are a slightly better pictures that I think show a very worn nutrient groove in the center of the root (maybe?). 

P7510615.jpg

P7510616.jpg

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The other thing that bothers me and makes me think its not a meg is the back of the tooth seems to be domed towards the center near the root. All of the other STH megs I have are flat or recessed at the back of the tooth near the root.

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Thickness and general look of the tooth says Meg to me, where you found it could have once been a shallow breeding ground, I have a few teeth that are in this size range. Regardless nice tooth :) 

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The unusual serrations made me think serrated Alopias but I don’t know if they have ever been found at this location. Might be too thick for that.

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Alopias ?latidens? is reported as rare from the faunal list. After more exposure to this rare genus of fossil shark teeth in North Carolina, I had this on my (expanded) list of considerations as well. The curvature didn't seem to be there and the thickness and the appearance of what seems to be a bourlette swayed me to considering meg. Posterior megs tend to have a larger root to blade ratio but maybe a more lateral tooth from a smallish individual might result in a tooth of this size and shape.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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I'm not seeing a worn nutrient groove in the pictures.  Juvenile megs can have irregular large serrations.  My sons and I have a number of juvenile megs like that.  All of the features that I can see in the pictures match a juvenile meg.

 

Marco Sr.

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5 hours ago, Al Dente said:

I would have said megalodon if it wasn’t for the unusual serrations. I’ve never seen these on a meg.

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That's one of the things I find interesting about this tooth. The pictures don't do it justice, when I see the pictures it looks like a Meg. When you get it in your hand it looks off. To bad it's so worn, I would love to see it whole. I might take it to the Buena Vista museum and see what they think.

 

 

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I have to agree that it's a baby megalodon.  I have one from Bone Valley that has the same kind of inflation to the crown - the unusual thickness.

 

I've seen three baby megs from the STH Bonebed.  I have one that Bill Hawes found in the 80's.  Bob Ernst found one that I recall but that one could have been the second one he collected.  The tooth in question is the third.  Hang on to that one, JBMugu!

 

Jess

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