Search the Community

Hello! I found tooth of male Dasyatis with some "bulging" on the lover parts of cusp (in lingual part of tooth). I didnt found before teeth of this genus with such "bulging" - is it some species feature or just some phatology? As far as I know from the research territory are known few species of Dasyatis: delfortriei, probsti, rugosa and strangulata... Middle Miocene. Western Ukraine. Thanks in advance!

No, not named for the famous dive/snorkel spot in Grand Cayman where tourists can interact (usually quite safely) with swarms of Southern Stingrays but instead referring to the abundance of Dasyatis sp. teeth from the Montbrook fossil site in north-central Florida. While this site is a treasure trove of fossil material providing huge numbers of specimens of turtles as well as other creatures like alligators, gomphotheres, tapirs, peccaries, llamas, and ever an early saber-toothed cat, many taxa on the faunal list are only known from micro-fossils. In addition to valuable and scarce fossil remains providing evidence for things like snakes, lizards, frogs, salamanders as well as several species of birds, the micro-matrix is loaded with huge numbers of more common fossils. A variety of tiny fish teeth and vertebrae (and lesser numbers of more delicate ribs and skull fragments) are common finds. There are a number of species of minuscule shark teeth as well--though the majority seem to be from a species of sharpnose shark (Rhizoprionodon sp.) with a few novelties tossed in to make it interesting. By far and away the most common chondrichthyan fossil at this site are from stingrays. In a report of the relative abundances of chondrichthyan specimens from this site (encompassing nearly 13,000 specimens) the vast majority (well over 9,000) are tiny Dasyatis teeth. The preservation colors at this site are quite different from the phosphatic black/gray coloration predominantly found in Florida creeks/rivers. Most are tans and light browns with a number of creamy white teeth that are so bright and clean that they look like they could have been shed yesterday. I'm presently picking through some finer material that was washed through a fine brass screen so the finds tend to be around a millimeter in size (requiring a microscope to spot on my picking plate). Last night I finished a batch and was amazed at the density and diversity of color, form, and size (some really tiny juvenile teeth in there as well). I decided to take a "wallpaper" image of a spread of these tiny teeth for fun. For reference, the field of view in this image is roughly the size of a US postage stamp. Cheers. -Ken