Carcharhinus melanopterus, Waimanalo Fm

My new tooth from Port Aransas had me studying modern shark dentitions and I noticed that this tooth matches much closer to those found in lemon sharks. I now believe this is from Negaprion acutidens. What's strange is lemon sharks are not currently found in Hawaii at all. This tooth presents evidence of an isolated lemon shark population amongst the islands as recently as the last interglacial period. I love this wrinkle in shark distribution because it demonstrates the ephemeral nature of the natural world. Just think of all the similar, subtle nuances we've lost to the compression of geologic time.