Cat shark tooth?

[Fin Lover]

Went hunting at a few creeks today in the Summerville/Ladson areas.  I don't know how I managed to see this tooth (just surface hunting, no sifting). In trying to Google what it might be, I came across some posts on cat shark teeth. Can someone please tell me if that is what this is?  Thank you!

[Al Dente]

The root looks more like a lamniforme shark root. I’m guessing this is some type of sand tiger intermediate or posterior tooth. 

[digit]

Around 34 Ma during the global cooling event known as the Eocene-Oligocene transition there was a shift in the dominant group of sharks from mackerel sharks (lamniformes) to ground sharks (carcharhiniformes). After this changeover fossil shark teeth in the genus Carcharhinus became much more common and the elongated curved teeth with the little side cusps in the family Odontaspididae (sand tiger sharks) became much less common.

 

Fossil hunting in Florida generally is in formations after this shift (oldest formations in Florida are Eocene possibly reaching back to around 40 Ma) and so the only Odontaspididae shark teeth we tend to find are indistinguishable from the extant Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharias taurus). It is kind of fun to have a chance to pick through Cretaceous age fossil matrix as these elongate needle-like teeth with the side cusps and very U-shaped roots dominate the shark teeth. The shift in composition of the shark population from lamniformes to carcharhiniformes is in no way subtle and is quite obvious to anybody who has hunted for shark teeth from formations before and after the E-O transition.

 

As stated above the U-shaped root on your find definitely much more resembles a lamniformes tooth than a catshark (Scyliorhinidae) which tend to have much flatter triangular shaped roots. Your tooth reminds me of Odontaspis from the Cretaceous. How old are the deposits in your area where this tooth was found?

 

Here's a scyliorhinid tooth from the Miocene of Florida (the Montbrook site).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

[Fin Lover]

@digit and @Al Dente, thank you for the information. I hadn't heard of cat sharks before, so I figured they must not be here, but it was just so tiny compared to other sand tiger teeth I've seen. As far as the questions on age of the formation, unfortunately I can't answer that. I was in a new location and it appeared to have multiple layers. There is a mix in the general area from Eocene to Pleistocene, although I don't know that I have ever found anything from the Eocene. At this location, I also found hemis, tigers, and lots of carcharhinus.  So, probably just a very small sand tiger tooth? It's still very cool looking. Thank you so much for the helpful information! I would say that one day I will figure out these formations, but I'm not sure if I will.