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Great White Shark tooth found on Cape Cod, not sure if it is fossilized


shoreman

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Hello - new member here.

 

I found this great white tooth on Cape Cod recently and it was identified as a White Shark tooth by a local natural history curator, but they didn't think it was fossilized. Any ideas? To me it looked very similar to fossilized teeth I looked up online. When I first pulled it out of the water it was a little more grey/blue/black but once it dried it went this tan/brown color.

 

We have an explosion of Great Whites here recently, but is this fossilized?

shark-tooth.jpeg

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It looks recent to me, and I'm staying out of water deeper than my ankles on the outer cape.   :meganim:

Wait to see what others have to say, though.

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Can we get a picture of the other side of the tooth? 

I think it may be a fossil. I was under the impression that recent teeth were white? 

 

 

shark-tooth.thumb.jpeg.e1ad5a9c10684788b299fd8486a83469.jpeg

 

 

614338d7-a954-40f4-90e8-f1cf66dbcfeb.jpg

 

 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Not a expert (I know, I always begin that way) but the root make me think fossil and not modern. 

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I was thinking that since it wasn't totally white it may be a fossil. The root or gum area is hard as well.  Here is a photo of the other side.

 

 

 

 

tooth-otherside.jpeg

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IMO I would agree with fossilized. I'm under the impression that modern shark teeth roots are usually white or whiteish, which is clearly not the case here.

If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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Gotta be at least Pliocene to acquire that level of mineral color.

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"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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I am not really sure why we would think it is not fossilized. It is not white and has been worn in the surf. It is incredibly rare to find modern teeth washed up on the beach.

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Not sure about Cape Cod but doesn't Martha's vineyard have Miocene or Pliocene outcrops? Could be wrong about this. In any case beach renourishment brings fossils onto many beaches and this could be a Pleistocene marine fossil where most other sediment is glacial or derived from glacial. Were a lot of black seashells present also?

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Just now, Plax said:

Not sure about Cape Cod but doesn't Martha's vineyard have Miocene or Pliocene outcrops? 

You are correct! :) 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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This was found on the Flats of Cape Cod Bay which is the widest expanse of tidal flats in North America.  That's what makes this super interesting to me, I've heard and read of alot of stuff taken from Martha's Vineyard, especially out in Gay Head.

 

The area didn't have alot of black seashells, more red clay and sand.

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32 minutes ago, Rustdee said:

I am not really sure why we would think it is not fossilized. It is not white and has been worn in the surf. It is incredibly rare to find modern teeth washed up on the beach.

When I lived in the Panama Canal Zone we used to find shark teeth all the time. With a fair number being great whites. Most are white yes but there would always be some that were yellowed oreven tannish. I used to make jewelry out of them. We would also find fossilized teeth and I can’t describe it but there was a difference to the “look” of the tooth itself. I want to say a transclulence but that’s not quite the word I’m looking for that modern teeth have that the fossilized teeth didn’t. But that’s from my own experience and not to be taken as fact LOL!

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I forgot about the deposits on Martha's Vineyard. This could very well be a fossil. I seem to remember reading about fossils found in clay in other areas of the cape as well. Thanks for posting your interesting find. Fossilized shark teeth are not at all common on Cape Cod beaches. 

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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There was alot of clay in the area that I found it. Do you think it might have been unearthed in a storm or tidal push?

 

Pagarus - I hear ya about the sharks, I'm a longtime surfer that lives here year round. I haven't surfed the Cape since last Fall b/c of the Great White explosion but I'm still walking the beaches and hanging around the ocean.

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Looks fossily to me.  I wonder what the beds under Cape Cod Bay contain?  Are there Mio/Pliocene beds at the bottom of the ocean that could be the source of this?  Isn't the cape all Pliestocene?  

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8 hours ago, shoreman said:

I found this great white tooth on Cape Cod recently and it was identified as a White Shark tooth by a local natural history curator, but they didn't think it was fossilized. Any ideas? To me it looked very similar to fossilized teeth I looked up online. When I first pulled it out of the water it was a little more grey/blue/black but once it dried it went this tan/brown color.

 

We have an explosion of Great Whites here recently, but is this fossilized?

In July, I was swimming at Corporation Beach when a 7 foot Gray Seal approached within 15 feet of me.  Charter boat captains say there are GWs in the bay chasing the seals..  The times they are changing. 

I have a GW about the size of this tooth... Are you sure yours is a GW? The one below has a tight line between the blade and root on the lingual side.2015Mar3rdGreatWhite.thumb.jpg.df86b5595ef12a2bf851ca17d505e201.jpg

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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9 hours ago, shoreman said:

and it was identified as a White Shark tooth by a local natural history curator, but they didn't think it was fossilized.

Here’s the line I find most telling and I add it to my own experience. The natural history curator  identified it as great white and they didn’t think it was fossilized.

 I’ll be the first to admit I’m no expert and kind of dumb but i will normally put my money on the expert that’s probably handled  100s of them....

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Very fine great white!  Could be a Pleistocene tooth.  I've collected late Pleistocene fossil shark teeth in Hawaii that could pass for Pliocene/Miocene-- black, mineralized roots, and gray blades

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

George Santayana

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12 hours ago, shoreman said:

There was alot of clay in the area that I found it. Do you think it might have been unearthed in a storm or tidal push?

Yes.  It might also explain the color and possible mineralization

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

George Santayana

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7 hours ago, jpc said:

Looks fossily to me.  I wonder what the beds under Cape Cod Bay contain?  Are there Mio/Pliocene beds at the bottom of the ocean that could be the source of this?  Isn't the cape all Pliestocene?  

Martha's Vineyard is a terminal moraine. It seems likely that much of the area would have been glacially transported.

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We've talked about fossils from the region (Martha's Vineyard, Gay Head) before.  There's a short note on it:

 

Sanford, S.N.F.  1934.

Fossils of Colorful Gay Head. Bulletin of the Boston Society of Natural History. 71. April 1934.

 

It mentions an upcoming review of the geology of the area.  Here it is:

 

https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_52154_geographyandgeologyoftheregion1934/page/n3

 

As the tooth itself, I agree with Hemipristis that it could be a late Pleistocene tooth.  I would go a step further and say it could still be Holocene.  I've seen darker teeth that were only hundreds of years old and lighter teeth that were Oligocene (ask the collectors in Florida or the Carolinas).  I also agree that a tooth or bone can be mineralized in a rather short time.  

 

 

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Wow! That's a great reference that includes shark teeth in the broader area. What was Miocene in 1934 may be considered Pliocene today. Not sure though.

  Thanks for posting this enlightening publication Siteseer.

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