Pristine Peace River Tooth

[Frank Eaton]

This tooth is an outlier in my collection because it’s the only really nice Peace River fossil I’ve ever found... but it’s a beauty. Pronounced bourlette  and serrations all around, and that lovely tannin brown *chefs kiss*. 

 

As an Aurora guy, I’d call this Carcharhinus obscurus. Does that prognosis still hold for Florida?

 

thank you all!

 

 

[fossil_sea_urchin]

I'm not sure because I don't know much about shark teeth, NICE TOOTH! 

[digit]

A really nice tooth with great color. Most Carcharhinus teeth we get from the Peace River are pretty difficult to get to species (especially smaller or posterior teeth). This one may be distinctive enough to go to species level but every time I try to work through keys of photographic guides to identify to species I end up knowing less than I did before my attempts so I'm generally happy with just Carcharhinus sp. for most of the ones I have. Some others who have dedicated more time to identifying shark teeth might be able to provide more help. @Shellseeker @Al Dente @MarcoSr

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Shellseeker]

I am NOT so easily confused and still I can easily be confused by trying to specify the differences between Dusky and Bull sharks... Let's both start with the preposition that it is not easy:

http://www.elasmo.com/frameMe.html?file=heim/leecreek/lc-carch_large.html&menu=bin/menu_topics-alt.html. 

There have been a bunch of threads on TFF trying to develop clarity.

Since you are more familiar with Aurora,  tell me (with photos) how you differentiate between Dusky and Bull shark teeth.

Down in the Peace River, I find it hard but I keep both

There are more Bulls in Florida than Duskys.  Like Ken, I take them both, have some ideas on how to differentiate,  but not sure any of those factors are based in fact.

We need a some of our members who can definitively state; Your tooth is a Dusky because it has "characteristic A" and a Bull shark tooth does not.  @Paleoc @siteseer

 

On 9/2/2019 at 2:24 PM, digit said:

Carcharhinus sp.

 

 

[Frank Eaton]

@Shellseeker, I wish I could say that I follow a higher authority on Carcharhinus than Elasmo but I simply don’t. The link you supplied is exactly where I would look if I had questions. 

 

And truth be told, I really don’t find many of either at Aurora. I’d say upper obscuras and leucas comprise about 2% of all the Carcharinhas teeth I find. 

 

But it I pulled out all of my obscuras/leucas out of curiosity and lo and behold... I think one of my 2 leucas possibly isn’t one.

 

From the pictures below:

 

top row: leucas... identified thus simply because of the slightly narrower and less angular crown.

 

middle row: my Peace River obscuras.

 

bottom row: nearly identical angle to the wider crown. 

 

That said, the first small tooth in my “leucas” row is suspiciously triangular. I’m beginning to think it’s something else.