A Few Catsharks From The Carolinas

[Al Dente]

I've been photographing some of the teeth I've collected over the years and recently completed some of the catsharks from North and South Carolina. Fossil catshark teeth can be difficult to identify. There are differences with tooth position, age and gender of the shark. Some publications have lumped many of the catsharks under the genus Scyliorhinus. I've tried to identify my fossils using some of the more recent publications available to me but I'm sure there are mistakes in some of my identifications.

There are 6 species of catshark that live off the coast of the Carolinas today. Most live in very deep water beyond the continental slope. Deep water species are not likely to show up in the fossil record because most formations on the east coast formed in shallower water.

Here are some of the teeth starting with the older formation.

Cretaceous:

All of these are from the Peedee Formation. The first tooth might be from the Eocene. It came from the contact where the Peedee meets the Castle Hayne. The Cretaceous teeth at this site are well preserved while the Eocene are black and worn. For that reason I think it is a Cretaceous tooth.

[Al Dente]

Paleocene:

Small teeth collected from this site usually have the roots missing. The tooth on the left is most likely Foumtizia. It looks similar to Foumtizia abdouni from the Paleocene of Morocco.

[Al Dente]

Eocene:

Unfortunately many of these teeth are from quarries no longer open to collectors. Here are some Castle Hayne Formation teeth:

[Al Dente]

Eocene:

And here are some Harleyville Formation teeth. The second tooth is probably a lateral tooth from a Megascyliorhinus based on size and striations similar to the anterior teeth.

This photo shows how variable some of the catshark teeth can be. Some have many folds on the labial surface while others may have few or none. The number of side cusps can also vary depending on tooth position.

The Harleyville Formation is loaded with catsharks and other small teeth. I didn't bother to photograph any Pachyscyllium from this location because I have photos of them from the Castle Hayne and other formations. Too bad these quarries are now closed to collecting.

[Al Dente]

Oligocene:

Here are three Pachyscyllium from the River Bend Formation. This photo shows how the presence of labial folds can be abundant, barely present or absent on these teeth. The same teeth also occur in the Belgrade Formation.

[Foshunter]

Awesome little teeth, the photography is super, can you share your skills and the program you use to edit?----Tom

[Al Dente]

Miocene:

Here are some Lee Creek teeth. Some collectors call these different names based on whether they have labial folds or not but it is my opinion that all the larger ones are Pachyscyllium regardless of labial folds.

There is a tiny catshark that can be found by fine screening the dark Pungo sands. It looks like a good fit for Scyliorhinus based on the U-shaped labial surface with folds on the lower portion and prominent lingual protuberance of the root.

[RickNC]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Coco]

Very nice pics !

Is the yellow color due to "blue-tag" ? It is nasty for fossils.

Coco

[obsessed1]

Great photos of what to many are rarely seen teeth! What photo editing methods did you use to produce these?

[Al Dente]

Coco- The yellowish colors you see is probably from the lighting. I use two small LED flashlights to light up the fossils. They probably aren't the proper color for this type of work.

To take these pictures I use a cheap Canon Powershot A-95 that is partially disabled (the zoom doesn't work). I take the pictures through the eye piece of my microscope. I take multiple shots and use a stacking software to combine them - CombineZ which is free and you can download it from the internet. Very easy to use.

The software that I use to cut out the images is a cheap knock off of Photoshop to came with my computer when I bought it 10 years ago. I'm sure there are much better free photo editing software that can be found on the internet.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Al Dente

[fossilselachian]

AD:

Great job! The photography is most impressive. A real nice way to see these tiny teeth which receive so little attention.

[xonenine]

thanks Al, it is nice to see such detail on these less seen teeth, they are one of my favorites to find in the Lee Creek material

[glacialerratic]

Excellent post. Very well done!

[Taffie]

Amazing photography, beautiful teeth. Thanks for sharing.

[sixgill pete]

Al Dente, Thanks for posting this. I believe this will help myself and others in ID'ing Catshark teeth. I will also say your pics are splendid for those small hard to photograph teeth. Your post's and knowledge is always well appreciated by myself.

[MB]

Great samples and pictures, thanks for sharing

[Plax]

excellent photography and thorough coverage of the group, thanks

[Grandblanc]

Thanks for sharing these very nice pics.

[siteseer]

Al Dente,

I would have commented sooner but I was away on business for a couple of weeks and did not have much opportunity to play on the forum. Thanks for sharing your photos of some very unusual teeth. I don't think I've ever seen micro teeth from the Peedee and only very few from Harleyville before. Are the Harleyville specimens from the "greencap?"

Several years ago,I spent some time researching cat sharks in my own study of the Sharktooth Hill shark fauna. Today, off the California coast there are four species (three genera) of cat shark but I don't think there is a study on their teeth (and probably not from your region). You're lucky to get a drawing of just one tooth position. Without a good starting point (modern dentitions), it's tough to get a handle on fossil teeth of the same family. Some modern genera don't seem to have a known fossil history. As you said, many modern forms live in deepwater and some of their fossil relatives apparently did as well so you just don't get to sample too many formations that were deposited in deep water because they have tended to stay in deep water.

With that said, I will look through some papers and specimens over the next couple of days and see what I can add.

Jess

I've been photographing some of the teeth I've collected over the years and recently completed some of the catsharks from North and South Carolina. Fossil catshark teeth can be difficult to identify. There are differences with tooth position, age and gender of the shark. Some publications have lumped many of the catsharks under the genus Scyliorhinus. I've tried to identify my fossils using some of the more recent publications available to me but I'm sure there are mistakes in some of my identifications.

There are 6 species of catshark that live off the coast of the Carolinas today. Most live in very deep water beyond the continental slope. Deep water species are not likely to show up in the fossil record because most formations on the east coast formed in shallower water.

Edited July 1, 2013 by siteseer

[Al Dente]

I don't think I've ever seen micro teeth from the Peedee and only very few from Harleyville before. Are the Harleyville specimens from the "greencap?"

Jess

The Harleyville specimens are from what is frequently called the "greencap". It is nice to work with because it will go through a fine screen without collecting much sand, making picking the material fairly easy. We get similar green clayey material on top of the Castle Hayne Formation in North Carolina. I try to target the stuff when looking for micros. Most of the Peedee Formation is too sandy to look for small teeth. There are a couple of locations where the sand is fine enough to go through a screen making the search for teeth a lot easier. I'm now in the process of photographing some of the ray teeth (Rhinobatos, Rhychobatus and similar teeth) that I have in my collection but I have recently been sidetracked with house repairs that I have put off for years and now needs my attention. Maybe in a month or two I will be able to get back to photographing.

[siteseer]

Al Dente,

I have the description of Foumtizia abdouni. I don't think the two Moseley Creek Formation teeth match up. In Foumtizia, the crown is united to distinct heels not seen on your teeth. Check out this publication for cat sharks from Morocco:

Noubhani, A and H. Cappetta. 1997.

Les Orectolobiformes, Carcharhiniformes et Myliobatiformes des Bassins à phosphate du Moroc (Maastrichtien-Lutétien basal): Systematique, biostratigraphie, evolution, et dynamique des faunes. PalaeoIchthyologica 8, München. 327 pp.

It has great plates.

Jess

Paleocene:

Small teeth collected from this site usually have the roots missing. The tooth on the left is most likely Foumtizia. It looks similar to Foumtizia abdouni from the Paleocene of Morocco.

four.jpg

[siteseer]

I haven't been able to match any of these to anything I know except the tooth on the right in the second photo (the one with the long lateral cusplets) reminds me of Scyliorhinus dubius from the Cenomanian Chalk, Kent. Your tooth is much younger than that.

Great specimens.

Jess

Al Dente said:

Cretaceous:

All of these are from the Peedee Formation. The first tooth might be from the Eocene. It came from the contact where the Peedee meets the Castle Hayne. The Cretaceous teeth at this site are well preserved while the Eocene are black and worn. For that reason I think it is a Cretaceous tooth.

one.jpg two.jpg

three.jpg

[Al Dente]

Al Dente,

I have the description of Foumtizia abdouni. I don't think the two Moseley Creek Formation teeth match up. In Foumtizia, the crown is united to distinct heels not seen on your teeth. Check out this publication for cat sharks from Morocco:

Noubhani, A and H. Cappetta. 1997.

Les Orectolobiformes, Carcharhiniformes et Myliobatiformes des Bassins à phosphate du Moroc (Maastrichtien-Lutétien basal): Systematique, biostratigraphie, evolution, et dynamique des faunes. PalaeoIchthyologica 8, München. 327 pp.

It has great plates.

Jess

Thanks for the help with identifications. I've tried to find this particular publication in the past and haven't had any luck. Maybe interlibrary loan is the way to go for this one.

[siteseer]

Maybe 10 years ago, I saw it for sale online somewhere and ended up getting it as a gift (thanks, Santa). I checked the publisher's website but it is out-of-print. It's the kind of volume that collectors and researchers hang onto but you might find it if you watch some of the used bookstore sites especially the ones with a lot of science stuff.

Yes, I would try interlibrary loan. Just go to your local public library. Sometimes, the search comes up empty but I have found a couple of articles that way.

Jess

P.S. The publisher website also had a volume with an article on a Middle Eocene deepwater shark site in France. Check it out:

http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/ef1.html

Thanks for the help with identifications. I've tried to find this particular publication in the past and haven't had any luck. Maybe interlibrary loan is the way to go for this one.