Shark teeth in the Caribbean

[Maart24]

Dear all,

 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in fossils. I am originally from the Netherlands but I grew up in the South of France. As a kid, you could always find me in the old abandoned quarry near to our house, looking for ammonite & sea urchin fossils on a heap of old stones!

I am now 30 and I have moved to the Dutch Caribbean for work. 

Not having looked for fossils for about a decade, I decided with a friend to have a go at this old hobby of mine on a Sunday, on a spot rumored to feature loads of nice fossils.

After 2 hours of searching and not finding jack and having been chased by a pack of wild dogs we decided to return home. But on our way back, on a spot that seemed interesting, we decided to have a final look and managed to find a whole heep of shark teeth. About 40 of them!

 

I am very curious whether some shark teeth enthusiasts would be able to identify the species of sharks that once shedded these shining beauties! Especially the larger ones!

Could they have been from great whites?

or perhaps the Otodus sokolovi?

Friendly regards,

M.

 

[hemipristis]

Very interesting locality!

 

The teeth in the first 6 photos are from the megalodon lineage. The one with the cusplet looks like O. angustidens, aka O. subauriculatus.  Need root and presence,/absence of cusplets to ID the others, though they’re likely the same.
 

The smaller teeth fall into the mako /ancestral great white lineage. Similar to the larger teeth, info on the roots is needed to get more specific. There are 2 genera and several species that are possible.

Edited September 25, 2023 by hemipristis

[Maart24]

Thank you hemipristis for your reply, very interesting!

If I find better fossils with roots attached I’ll do a small follow-up to better determine what their origin is.

Is/was it common for multiple species of sharks to inhabit (and therefore shed teeth) in the relative same location?

 

To find 20-30 million year old shark teeth, on a hill, in the middle of this island I live on in the Lesser Antilles, is indeed a very interesting location, I never would have figured haha..

[Fin Lover]

Yes, it is common to find teeth from multiple genera and/or species in the same location.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Fin Lover

[Notidanodon]

Very very cool finds! Never heard of fossils from there before! I would say from the quality of teeth this isn’t a lag deposit so they are likely all similar ages. Thus all the large serrated teeth (the small one is carcharhinus) are O. Angustidens  as they are too thick for Carcharodon carcharias I believe. As @hemipristis said I can’t be sure on which mako species are present but I would definitely call the site Oligocene 

[patelinho7]

Interesting preservation 

[Maart24]

Thank you all for your comments/reactions!

I’ll be going back soon to try to find some more complete teeth and other types of fossils. 
I will post whatever I find (complete or incomplete) in this chat.

 

Thanks again for your interest,

À bientôt,

M.

[Notidanodon]

7 minutes ago, Maart24 said:

Thank you all for your comments/reactions!

I’ll be going back soon to try to find some more complete teeth and other types of fossils. 
I will post whatever I find (complete or incomplete) in this chat.

 

Thanks again for your interest,

À bientôt,

M.

Good luck! 

[Maart24]

Hello again!

 

A few days ago I went to have a look around the same spot to see whether I could find some better shark teeth this time!

Alas, I was not able to find fully complete and/or large teeth but I did manage to find a lot more this time.

the ones that are somewhat complete are photographed separately.

 

The area where I go is hilly with layers of norite/granite, limestone and alluvial soil (where the shark teeth are deposited in I think). Except for some chunks of fossilized coral, I am not able to find other types fossils there (shells, sea urchins etc.), is that common?

 

I was curious whether these teeth could also have come from the O. Obliquus and is it rare to find specimens larger than 2-2,5 inches?

 

Have a great Sunday,

 

Greetings,

M.

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Maart24