Identify Shark Tooth?

[4grands]

My grandson found this, what looks like a fossil shork tooth this weekend. Found in Puerto Penasco, Mexico it is

[SUPER BAT]

baby megalodon?

[Fossildude19]

Welcome to the Forum.  

 

Shark tooth, but unfortunately, ... probably too worn to tell what kind. 

Regards,

[FossilsAnonymous]

It is similar to some carcharinids. That's unfortunatley as far as it goes.

[Macrophyseter]

I agree that it is a shark tooth, albeit an extremely worn one. It's fascinating for me to see one coming from Mexico, I seldom see shark teeth from that country.

 

The tooth is too worn to be certain, but IMO it's most likely a requiem shark tooth of the genus Carcharhinus. This genus comprises of a lot of species including the bull shark and dusky shark, but because such have teeth so similar, it's usually difficult if not near-impossible to pin down the species with certainty.

 

Another possible shark, which I do not find likely, could be a mako, specifically a small tooth from the broad-tooth shark Cosmopolitodus hastalis. Again, I doubt this, but the extreme wear of the tooth could make it a slight possibility.

 

Also, I believe it is likely that you were not aware of this, but Mexico holds laws that strictly bans the exportation of anything that they legally define as "cultural artifacts" or "national treasures", which includes fossils. This is by no means an accusation in any way as it seems to me that it would easy for tourists and visitors to take a few small fossils from a river without knowing that it's prohibited to do such (especially when the country neighbors one of the world's foremost dinosaur powerhouses), I'm just providing a bit of info so you don't accidentally get in trouble with the authorities the next time you visit Mexico.