Pristiformes Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've got a few smallish teeth that I'm wondering if anyone could help me identify. They came from the Tallahatta Formation in southern Alabama, originating from the early to mid-Eocene. The camera I used didn't have a macro setting so the photo is of poor quality, but is the best I could do. The teeth have squat bases, which precludes them laying flat on their lingual or labial sides without the use of clay (which I don't have handy). I have an idea of the genus they came from, but I'm leaving this info out in an effort to avoid biasing folk’s responses. There may be more than one taxa represented between the five teeth. Any info on their determination would be appreciated! Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmorefossil Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 is that inches on the ruler? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 is that inches on the ruler? Sorry, I should have mentioned that the ruler is reading millimeters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 veni, vidi, fugi i came, i saw, i ran away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Need a closer pic that is not fuzzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharktoothguy11222 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Some look like Squatina sp. Angel shark teeth. Tha tighin fodham, fodham, fodham! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharktoothguy11222 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Nice finds btw. Tha tighin fodham, fodham, fodham! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoRon Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 They look like Squatina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybodus Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Well, I suppose a few may be Squatiscyllium sp., but would need to see much petter pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 They do look like Angle Shark teeth.Nice finds. It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted November 29, 2008 Author Share Posted November 29, 2008 Okay, thanks very much for everyones input so far, I agree that some (at least 2, the ones farthest left in photo) look to be from Squatina sp., while some (as many as the remaining 3) seem to look closest to Squatiscyllium sp. Here are two more photos of the same teeth in question. The ruler numbers are centimeters while each small line is a millimeter. The photos are still really bad, but they may show a bit more that the original one had shown. Are we still thinking Squatina and Squatiscyllium ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bierk Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Those are Squatina prima and can be found with decent frequency in the eocene of alabama. A family member of mine has one that is approaching 1/2" in length and I'm highly jealous of it. Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybodus Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Still hard to tell from your pics if any are Squatiscyllium sp. Attached is a specimen in my collection in labial and lingual views; specimen is from Andalusia, Alabama, Tallahatta Formation and is 8mm x 7mm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybodus Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 So as to not be confusing, the first pic (left) is lingual, second pic is labial... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Just to point it out to interested parties, these are most likely coming from the Point-A dam Site I took a couple of members to last year. I have a gallery entry on this site. Will be glad to take more people there this late spring or summer. Actual best time is late summer when water is low, but unfortunately temps are very high then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 Still hard to tell from your pics if any are Squatiscyllium sp. Attached is a specimen in my collection in labial and lingual views; specimen is from Andalusia, Alabama, Tallahatta Formation and is 8mm x 7mm. Hybodus, Thanks for showing the photos of your Squatiscyllium tooth. The more I learn of this genus, the less I realize I know! See, the tooth you have photographed looks to me like Squatina, and that's what I would have assumed it was had you not determined it as Squatiscyllium! So now I'll have to rethink my determination of Squatina for those. The ones I thought to be squatiscyllium (three teeth) all have rounded sholders on either side of the base of the cusp, and the cusp is rather low (compared to what I think is Squatina). Here's a photo I grabbed off the web that shows a similar tooth to the three I have. I wish I knew of some better literature that reviews this stuff, but I don't know of any right now. I'm using Handbook of Paleoichthyology, Volume 3B (Cappetta reprint) and reading a bit from elasmo.com on Squatina sp. The book Fossil Vertebrates of Alabama (Thurmond and Jones, 1981) has not been helpful with these two genera. Can you give me any recommendations of publications dealing with these sharks? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 Just to point it out to interested parties, these are most likely coming from the Point-A dam Site I took a couple of members to last year. I have a gallery entry on this site. Will be glad to take more people there this late spring or summer. Actual best time is late summer when water is low, but unfortunately temps are very high then. Hunter, Shush! Remind me never to take you fishing, or to blindfold you first so you can't tell the location. Anyway, anytime is a good time to go to the location, especially if you've got friends who know the manager who controls the dam! Thanks for the heads-up on the gallery entry, I'll look at it. Still feeling my way around this huge and sleep-deprivingly fascinating website! And yes "deprivingly" is a word (that I just made up). I've been itching to go back there ever since I came from the site this spring, so I might take you up on your generous offer to take folks there! Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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