Symphyseal/Parasymphyseal Otodus obliquus Teeth from Morocco

[MarcoSr]

I rarely buy shark teeth, but I saw a lot (see below picture) of small shark teeth from Morocco for sale on FB.  I could see a good number of Otodus obliquus symphyseal teeth in the pictures of the lot, and one tooth that looked like an Otodus obliquus lower parasymphyseal tooth.  Lower Otodus obliquus parasymphyseal teeth are much rarer than the symphyseal teeth.   Per a personal conversation with Lutz Andres, based upon his research Otodus obliquus symphyseal teeth are probably 10 times more common than the lower parasymphyseal teeth.  The opposite is true for Parotodus.  I bought the lot and just received the teeth.  I sent pictures to Lutz of a good number of the teeth, and we agreed that there were 16 symphyseal teeth and one parasymphyseal tooth in the lot.  It can be very difficult to differentiate Moroccan Otodus from Parotodus teeth, and only large size can confidently rule out Parotodus teeth.  However, in the Moroccan Khouribga faunas, Otodus obliquus are much more common than Parotodus.

 

Group picture of the lot of teeth:

 

 

 

Two symphyseal teeth:

Symphyseal Otodus obliquus tooth, Khouribga, Morocco 21 mm SH

 

 

 

 Symphyseal Otodus obliquus or Parotodus tooth, Khouribga, Morocco 10 mm SH

 

 

 

Parasymphyseal tooth:

Parasymphyseal Otodus obliquus or Parotodus tooth, Khouribga, Morocco13 mm SH

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[Fin Lover]

Very nice!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Interesting.

Thanks for sharing.