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Tooth size of modern Great Whites


Abstraktum

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Hello everybody :)

 

So this is a question not directly regarding fossils, but I feel this is nevertheless the right place.

 

Is there any information on how big the teeth of modern great white sharks can get? For Megalodon there is a great amount of information regarding the size of the teeth. But for modern great whites I only find information about the size of the whole shark. 

 

I would like to make a small display with my 5.64 inch Meg tooth and a modern great white. I was able to get a 2.4 in modern white shark tooth. But I dont know if this is big or average.

 

Thanks for your help :)

 

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Remember size also depends on tooth placement in the mouth.  Is your tooth being measured in inches or centimeters?  You just state 2.4. 

If in inches I would say it is a fairly large size.

Look through "the auction" site for modern Great White teeth and see the average sizes being offered. Most are not nearly as large as yours.

 

 

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Yes its 2.4 inches. 6,1 cm.

 

However it is not symetrical. One side is longer than the other. Not sure where this tooth was placed within the mouth.

 

Here is picture:

 

20191101_131431-1.thumb.jpg.4edce68a62e0d954c397db6e7d9b82c1.jpg

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Kenshu Shimada wrote a paper some years ago using tooth sets from Great Whites (Carcharodon carcharias) from sharks of a known total length (TL). He developed linear regression equations for each of the tooth positions to correlate a measurement of crown height (CW) to the TL of the shark. Obviously, the extreme posterior teeth of an individual Great White are smaller than the anterior teeth so there are different equations for each tooth position. Great when you have multiple associated teeth and can tell the tooth positions reliably but more tricky when you don't know the exact tooth position.

 

Fig 1.png

 

Your tooth above appears to be from the upper jaw and from the angle of the blade (one edge being longer that the other) I'm guessing (because I'm way out of my league here) based on size and the angle that this is one of the first laterals (L1-L3). The equation relies on a measurement, not of the diagonal length of the entire tooth, but the Shimada equations work on a measurement of crown height (CH) measured on the labial (flat) side of the tooth. I would be interested if you can re-measure this tooth (in mm) on the flat side from the middle of the base of the crown to the tip. See this drawing to better explain the CH measurement needed:

 

CW-CW.png

 

Then the total length (TL) in cm of the individual would be estimated from the crown height (CH) in mm with the following equations (depending upon the actual tooth position):

 

L1: TL = 5.540 + 14.197 * CH

L2: TL = 4.911 + 13.433 * CH

L3: TL = 0.464 + 14.550 * CH

 

Measure the CH for your tooth and post it here and we'll see what the length would come out as for various tooth positions. For those interested in reading the full paper (it's short and not complicated), I've found a publicly available copy online and attached it here.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

2003-_White_Shark.pdf

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Thank you so much for your answer :)

I did an exact measurement on the flat side of the tooth. I'm not sure how to measure CH on this specific tooth, as it is not symmetrical. But I tried my best and hope this helps :)

 

20191101_143114-1.thumb.jpg.54d4d578b596d2bd17734b3ac8e47d88.jpg20191101_143430-1.thumb.jpg.504d7c05cd7886b92b25f0b600eb5c08.jpg

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I would say that the 39 mm measurement is what Shimada calls for in his equation. Given the uncertainty in the tooth position (an actual shark tooth expert seeing this post may be able to clarify), here is what the equations would seem to tell us:

 

L1: TL = 5.540 + 14.197 * CH = 559 cm (~5.6 m)

L2: TL = 4.911 + 13.433 * CH = 529 cm (~5.3 m)

L3: TL = 0.464 + 14.550 * CH = 568 cm (~5.7 m)

 

This range of 5.3-5.7 meters would put the shark that previously owned this really nice tooth at somewhere in the neighborhood of 17-19 feet and I though you could get away claiming that this is from an 18-footer. ;) The internet seems to claim that males reach a maximum size of 11-13 feet and females average 15-16 feet with the biggest topping out at about 20 feet. I'd say you've got a tooth from a pretty big female.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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Wow! Thank you so much for your help. :) I didn't expect such a great and precise answer. That was so helpfull. Thx again! ^_^

 

Finally I want to share a picture with my 5.64 Meg tooth. I think this gives an idea what a monster Megalodon really was...

 

20191101_145402-1.thumb.jpg.bc21989516c632c0234390d52f008b75.jpg

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A while back I saw some modern Great White teeth for sale at the 3 inch mark. Atleast that was what was claimed in the advertisement.

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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Those (even measured diagonally) would seem to be at the maximum size (possibly with a bit of exaggerated sales hype). I'd certainly love to see one of those with a digital caliper proving the claim. ;)

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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The largest measured great white was 19.7 feet. There is film of one that suspected of 22’. Officially the largest teeth are just under 3”

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22 hours ago, Darktooth said:

A while back I saw some modern Great White teeth for sale at the 3 inch mark. Atleast that was what was claimed in the advertisement.

It seems , with ALL the Meg focus within TFF members,  we have an opportunity to pool our knowledge on what is currently available both modern and fossilized.

Look at this fossilized GW from @Megatooth Collector. 3.34 inches.  Does anyone have a  photo of a larger tooth.

@Abstraktum has a modern GW tooth of 2.4 inches. Let see photos of larger modern GW teeth.

 

After some time, we will have photos of the largest tooth in each category known by TFF  -- fossil and modern. 

 

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

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On 11/1/2019 at 4:15 AM, Abstraktum said:

Hello everybody :)

 

So this is a question not directly regarding fossils, but I feel this is nevertheless the right place.

 

Is there any information on how big the teeth of modern great white sharks can get? For Megalodon there is a great amount of information regarding the size of the teeth. But for modern great whites I only find information about the size of the whole shark. 

 

I would like to make a small display with my 5.64 inch Meg tooth and a modern great white. I was able to get a 2.4 in modern white shark tooth. But I dont know if this is big or average.

 

Thanks for your help :)

 

 

 

I think your tooth is a first upper lateral and a 2.4-inch tooth at that position testifies to even larger anterior teeth perhaps in the neighborhood of the largest known modern teeth.  It's possible that your tooth belonged to an individual over 20 feet long.  It's hard to say, because as great whites reach adulthood,  they start growing more slowly in length and the body starts filling out more.  As has been noted, a number of fossil teeth over 3 inches (larger than any known modern teeth) have been found.  They indicate individuals around 25 feet in length, the size of the shark in "Jaws," 

 

Any modern great white tooth over 2 inches would be considered large.  

 

@isurus90064

 

Jess

 

 

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5 hours ago, siteseer said:

Any modern great white tooth over 2 inches would be considered large. 

Agreed! And best observed (from a distance) while in the jaws of its owner. :P:meganim:

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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  • 3 years later...

Modern tooth or fossil.... it's the same species - Carcharodon carcharias

This is the largest in my collection.... and my largest Carcharodon hastalis
The largest Otodus megalodon in the pic is 5.67"

I recently saw a pic of a C. hastalis tooth at 3.3"
C. carcharias teeth also reach just over 3"
 

20230513_211026.jpg

20230513_202555.jpg

20230513_212142.jpg

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