Possible Mako Tooth?

[Andrew McIntyre]

Hi there,

New to this forum and writing on behalf of my family.

This particular tooth was found yesterday at a beach (Ocean Beach, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand) near to where we live. Have written to the National Museum (Te Papa, Wellington) and spoken to an assistant at the National Aquarium (Napier, NZ) about what we might have found. See tags for possible species. It will be at least 10,000 years old, but hard to say given we don't know the matrix. There are crumbling cliffs made of dark grey stone at the headland of the beach where it was found. Possibly mudstone. It was found among white pulverised shells on the beach at low tide.

Any help identifying species would be appreciated.

Cheers, Andrew & Family

[caldigger]

Andrew, can we see the other side? Does it look like it has very faint/ worn serrations on the edge of the blade?

[hemipristis]

Very nice tooth!  It is from an ancestral great white, lower jaw, front of the mouth (anterior).  I agree w/ Caldigger that I see what appears to be faint evidence of serrations.  If that's the case,  this would then represent a transitional tooth from the species immediately before the modern great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).  

 

As to what you want to call it, that's something of a debate at the moment, with several species being bantered about, and even debate as to whether it should be classified under the genus Carcharodon or Cosmopolitodus.  And some people get real riled up about this. I believe this week the nom du jour is Carcharodon hubelli 

 

 

[Andrew McIntyre]

Here you go. I did also think serrations were evident but not prominent. The Head Curator (Fishes) at Te papa believed it came from a member of the Mako family, possibly Isusus Desori or Isursus Hastalis. But he can't be 100% certain. Perhaps as you have suggested, a forerunner to the Great White. My family and I are going back to the spot where we found this specimen. You never know...

[Mark Kmiecik]

10 hours ago, Andrew McIntyre said:

My family and I are going back to the spot where we found this specimen. You never know...

From what I've seen on this forum, shark teeth seem to travel in groups. I'll bet there's a very good chance you'll find more, as long as it's not a site that has been picked over by thousands of people recently.

[Andrew McIntyre]

On 7/24/2019 at 7:12 AM, Mark Kmiecik said:

From what I've seen on this forum, shark teeth seem to travel in groups. I'll bet there's a very good chance you'll find more, as long as it's not a site that has been picked over by thousands of people recently.

makes sense. the problem we have is that the site where the tooth was found can only be accessed at low tide and the timing this weekend is at 7 am which is too early for us as a family. having a 5 year old makes the venture somewhat tricky and potentially dangerous. big swells along the coast recently (which perhaps explains the 'sudden' erosion of the headland above where the tooth was found. all along I naively thought that the tooth was washed up. but the more I think about the cliffs and the erosion, the colour of the rocks (soft, dark grey) especially, the more I realise the source was there, behind me. My wife already thinks I am obsessed with this tooth. little does she know it's more like possession.