Bone Valley Megaldons

[cowsharks]

Why do the vast majority of Bone Valley Megs have tip wear? I want to own one nice blue one some day, but all of the BV megs I see (eBay typically) all seem to have rounded and worn tips. I'm guessing this wear is from feeding and not necessarily caused from being in the deposit. I don't see this same sort of phenomena in any of the other common Megs locales like the Carolina's, Georgia, VA or MD. It just seems like 9 out 10 BV megs have worn tips, vice the more common type of feeding damage that I see with slightly more jagged edges. I guess given time, those jagged edges would become more rounded if the tooth stayed in the jaw long enough.

One other question about BV Megs, or BV shark teeth in general. Are teeth of different colors found in the same locations together? Meaning, is it possible to find a blue Meg in the same material as a green or yellow or white Meg, etc?

Daryl S.

[bear-dog]

For the feeding wear,the rounded ones were probably caused by the shark eating huge chunks of meat lessening the collision of the teeth.For the color ,fossils take on their color due to the mineral content they were buried in.Had a friend found 3 different colored megs within an inch of each other on the same trip.

[tracer]

it has been my sense that many of the best meg teeth never get offered to the public because those finding them either keep them or offer them to collectors they already know.

i don't really feel like you can accurately judge what's being found by what ends up at auction.

[Foshunter]

it has been my sense that many of the best meg teeth never get offered to the public because those finding them either keep them or offer them to collectors they already know.

i don't really feel like you can accurately judge what's being found by what ends up at auction.

I agree with Tracer that most of the pristine teeth remain private collections as the mines are closed for hunting and teeth can't be easily replaced like in other parts of the country. When one of these teeth becomes availabe for purchase, get ready to loose an arm and a leg to take it home--Tom

[cowsharks]

I agree with Tracer that most of the pristine teeth remain private collections as the mines are closed for hunting and teeth can't be easily replaced like in other parts of the country. When one of these teeth becomes availabe for purchase, get ready to loose an arm and a leg to take it home--Tom

Ah ha, I guess I didn't realize (or forgot) that the BV mines were closed. That would certainly explain why there would be a reduced number of pristine BV Megs for sale. Occasionally I have even seen a seller advertise "BV Meg with Tip!" to exclaim hey, this one actually has a tip, so I always figured it was really uncommon for a BV Meg to have a pristine tip. There probably are plenty of pristine teeth out there, just not for sale. And if they cost too much, then I don't really need one that badly.

As for the colors, I understand that the coloring of the teeth comes from the minerals in the sediment. In my own collecting experience, I only see large differences in color occuring in different locations/areas within the same formation. For example, at one of the Calvert Cliffs locations that I collect, there's one stretch of cliffs in which the particular zone produces teeth with very light colored tan roots and red (or reddish) colored enamel. You won't find a single grey, black, brown, etc colored tooth coming from that layer in this one 100 ft section of that particular zone. However, in the rest of that zone/formation, you find the more commonly colored teeth with blues, greys, etc. So, I was just wondering if in the mines where the BV teeth are found, if there were specific zones or areas which yielded only certain colors, or were they all mixed together.

Daryl S.

[Haizahnjager]

In talking with some FL collectors, I had heard a theory that tipped megs were a result of a higher rate of dugong/manatee predation in this locale (as opposed to SC, NC, or MD, for instance). I do not have any evidence to substantiate this claim, but didn't write it off as a possibility when I heard it. Do any of the local guys have an opinion on this theory? I would be interested in hearing it.

Edited May 9, 2011 by Haizahnjager

[Harry Pristis]

In talking with some FL collectors, I had heard a theory that tipped megs were a result of a higher rate of dugong/manatee predation in this locale (as opposed to SC, NC, or MD, for instance). I do not have any evidence to substantiate this claim, but didn't write it off as a possibility when I heard it. Do any of the local guys have an opinion on this theory? I would be interested in hearing it.

Most of you probably familiar with my theory of megalodon's preferred prey - Australopithecus foetidus.

As for tooth wear, I don't know of any evidence that megalodon ate more dugongids than say fish.

You could make an equally-convincing argument that megalodon in Florida ate a higher percentage of bottom-dwelling rays, thus engulfing a larger quantity of sand. Or, you could argue that megalodon retained it's teeth longer - thus accumulating more wear - in the warmer water of Florida. There just is no evidence of which I'm aware.

[bear-dog]

The theory is possible,as is mine.Who knows?Maybe it could be a combination of both.As for color,I was blessed with hunting bone valley back in the good old days when you walked 5 miles to school in the snow uphill both ways. :lol: Never found an area where a certain color was dominent in one area.Did come across an area where large lower hemi's were present but no large uppers.

[Foshunter]

There are Bone Valley teeth out there without tip damage, these are some of mine bought at the Tampa Fossil Show years ago. I bet bear-dog has some better examples than I do as he lives in the territory where they once lived--Tom

[Harry Pristis]

The theory is possible,as is mine.Who knows?Maybe it could be a combination of both.As for color,I was blessed with hunting bone valley back in the good old days when you walked 5 miles to school in the snow uphill both ways. :lol: Never found an area where a certain color was dominent in one area.Did come across an area where large lower hemi's were present but no large uppers.

Both of these teeth are colored by minerals in the phosphate deposits in Southcentral Florida. A wide range of colors are produced, though beiges and lighter earth-tones are common. Based on my observations in the phosphate mine cut, the black-enamel teeth occur in clumps of gummy phosphatic clay. The light-colored teeth are found in the less-cohesive phosphate. I don't know the geo-chemistry that produces these colors.

[Nettuno]

I also have suspected it was due to dugong predation simply because of the large quantities of dugong rib bone found in the same places as the the tip-chipped megs (at least where i go looking). Those ribs are very dense and would logically damage the tip of a relatively fragile juvenile Meg tooth.

Also, the makos found in those same general areas rarely have a chipped tip, and Im certain makos were not eating dugong (or at least were not crunching through those rib bones).

[sharklover]

Hello

I had the great happiness to get permission 16 years ago for Bone Valley.

Found some nice typical megalodonds.

Me best one was a perfect 4 inch one ,stil in my collection

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Edited May 9, 2011 by sharklover

[cowsharks]

Hello

I had the great happiness to get permission 16 years ago for Bone Valley.

Found some nice typical megalodonds.

Me best one was a perfect 4 inch one ,stil in my collection

Nice Megs, thanks for sharing.

[Shellseeker]

Here is a dealer from Bradenton who has pristine teeth at high prices. Do a search for "Bone Valley" with the SOLD button selected.

InvestmentFossils

Sharp pointy tips may be rare but they do exist. I do agree that there are so many chipped points on otherwise excellent specimens that the dugong rib theory is likely.

In January, 2010 this one fell into my sieve point up, and I pleaded with the fossil gods to let THIS one be whole, but the river had taken its pound of flesh.

The Lee County Fossil club has 2-3 trips a year into Bone Valley Phosphate Mines. The group is usually limited to 20 club members. When showing off finds at the end of the day, there are grey, and deep blues, and olive greens, black, and golden yellow among other colors for the Megs. Many , maybe most are chipped in some way by the mine extraction process, but after a couple of million years, the colors are intermingled.

[tracer]

once about two(?) years ago there was a debate about feeding damage regarding whether it was really feeding damage, but anyway, i got nothing against the dugong rib thing if it was with smokey texas style bbq sauce but if it was with that east-coast vinegary stuff then i'm semi-agin it. but teh other questions really in my mind are that it seems like a few million years of potential other natural forces shouldn't be disregarded, in that it still seems to me like the enameloid oughta look kinda splintery lots of times if it was kercrunched whilst alive, but anyway. no point in beating a dead fish's borked teeth.

um, oh yeah, regarding the colors. i think the colors can have as much to do with the changing reducing/oxidizing conditions over time in the environment of deposition as they might with the minerals all laying around in solution. what i'm sort of sayin' is that sometimes i feel like the different colored teeth found near each other, or the multi-colored teeth may have gotten that way because the environment changed, like maybe went from anoxic to hypoxic to oxic as all heck fire.

[siteseer]

Nice BV teeth have been in demand longer than I have been collecting, and with the mines mostly closed, demand is higher than the supply even in the current economy. However, even a couple of years ago, one or two people had some at the Tampa show. You might consider starting a thread in the sales/trades section and make it more widely-known that you want a BV blue meg.

When I collected in the mines years ago, there was one where I found mostly grays and blues with a couple of grayish-greens and another that had mostly just darker blue to black teeth (a few off-white teeth that I assumed had been bleached by the sun) with neither offering any of the yellow-orange colors I had seen at shows or in collections. In two other mines I did get a wider mix of colors: grays, blues, and yellow-oranges of different shades.

Why do the vast majority of Bone Valley Megs have tip wear? I want to own one nice blue one some day, but all of the BV megs I see (eBay typically) all seem to have rounded and worn tips. I'm guessing this wear is from feeding and not necessarily caused from being in the deposit. I don't see this same sort of phenomena in any of the other common Megs locales like the Carolina's, Georgia, VA or MD. It just seems like 9 out 10 BV megs have worn tips, vice the more common type of feeding damage that I see with slightly more jagged edges. I guess given time, those jagged edges would become more rounded if the tooth stayed in the jaw long enough.

One other question about BV Megs, or BV shark teeth in general. Are teeth of different colors found in the same locations together? Meaning, is it possible to find a blue Meg in the same material as a green or yellow or white Meg, etc?

Daryl S.

[Lonewuff]

Why do the vast majority of Bone Valley Megs have tip wear? I want to own one nice blue one some day, but all of the BV megs I see (eBay typically) all seem to have rounded and worn tips. I'm guessing this wear is from feeding and not necessarily caused from being in the deposit. I don't see this same sort of phenomena in any of the other common Megs locales like the Carolina's, Georgia, VA or MD. It just seems like 9 out 10 BV megs have worn tips, vice the more common type of feeding damage that I see with slightly more jagged edges. I guess given time, those jagged edges would become more rounded if the tooth stayed in the jaw long enough.

One other question about BV Megs, or BV shark teeth in general. Are teeth of different colors found in the same locations together? Meaning, is it possible to find a blue Meg in the same material as a green or yellow or white Meg, etc?

Daryl S.

Good questions! I've hunted many days in Bone Valley and can possibly help you. Large Bone Valley Teeth (4" +) are very rare. Bone Valley teeth are rare in general because they are found on private mine areas in Polk County with little access. The percentage of teeth broken or chipped are probably about the same in the river teeth and the land found teeth. Only the river teeth are usually worn or eroded so the damage does not show up as much as the brightly colored Bone Valley teeth. A lot of teeth probably fell out when damaged and they were worn by river action and not continued feeding to round the tips again.

As far as color.....there are different layers and conditions at different depths in Bone Valley. The white rooted teeth sit in limestone above the yellow, green or redish teeth. I've found them very close together but they were mixed by the draglines. With insurance rates and equipment costs Mosaic tries to keep anyone from hunting the phosphate pits. Check out my website for pictures of some nice Bone Valley teeth. I hope this info helps out!