Cretoxyrhina tooth

Taxonomy

Ginsu Shark

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Cretoxyrhinidae
Genus: Cretoxyrhina
Species: Cretoxyrhina mantelli
Author Citation Agassiz, 1835

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Cretaceous
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Late Coniacian-Early Campanian

Stratigraphy

Niobrara Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Height: 1 "

Location

Gove County
Kansas
United States

• c(n)cm1
• cretoxyrhina
• cretoxyrhina mantelli
• ginsu
• ginsu shark
• niobrara
• niobrara formation
• smoky hill
• smoky hill chalk

Comments

Identification

Cretoxyrhina teeth are simple in design, having a triangular crown with smooth enamel and non-serrate edges, a thin lingual dental band, rounded root lobes, a lingual root protuberance, and no nutrient groove.^1,2

Comments

This tooth is from a latero-posterior position, given the crown's distal curvature. The chalk preserved this tooth very well - the enamel retains a sharp gloss comparable to that on modern sharks' teeth.

References

1. Bourdon, Jim, and Michael J. Everhart. “Analysis of an Associated Cretoxyrhina Mantelli Dentition from the Late Cretaceous (Smoky Hill Chalk, Late Coniacian) of Western Kansas.” Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science (1903-), vol. 114, no. 1/2, 2011, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41309622.

2. Shimada, Kenshu. “Dentition of the Late Cretaceous Lamniform Shark, Cretoxyrhina Mantelli, from the Niobrara Chalk of Kansas.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1997, pp. 269–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4523806.