Fluorescent Meg and Otodus teeth

[RhinoWater]

 

Hello

I have recently purchased an UV flashlight. Under the UV light, I noticed that a couple of shark teeth are glowing fluorescent. I have two megalodon tooth and both are from Carolina; strangely only one tooth glows and the other does not. The otodus tooth fluoresce as well.

 

Is to be noted that all three tooth are from different sellers, but have been reputable for selling genuine fossils. (However, I could very well be mistaken on the genuineness of the teeth)

Suspecting a clear coat or vanish has been applied, I have proceeded to use a cotton swab soaked with acetone on both glowing tooth. But the teeth remains unchanged.

 

Is there a reason for the fluoresence (especially on the Meg tooth - where it glows for one and not the other)?

Is fluoresence on fossilized shark teeth a normal/common occurence?

Is fluoresence on such a large proportion of a fossil an indication of fakery?

 

Apologies for the many questions and, thank you and appreciate any help and advice on the matter.

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Different preservation, different minerals present.
All could account for the differing fluorescence of the items.

[patelinho7]

I also think that white colors fluoresce on their own more than other colors. The dark tooth is absorbing the UV light, while the white teeth are doing their best to reflect the light, appearing as if they fluoresce. Go shine it on some sneakers with white laces. The laces will appear as if they glow, while the rest of the shoe (assuming it's a dark color) will look relatively normal

[trilobites_are_awesome]

I agree different mineral composition . and also some rocks/fossils glow different colors despite being the same mineral composition.

[grandpa]

8 hours ago, RhinoWater said:

Is there a reason for the fluoresence

Yes, it's so that you can hunt sharks' teeth at night as well, extending your hunting time to 24 hrs/da.  [We're working on ways to extend it beyond 24 hrs/da, but the quantum manipulations for acheiving time dilation are taking more energy than we have available at the moment.] 

[digit]

I've pointed a strong UV flashlight at a bowl of shark teeth and was pleased to find some of them glowing back usually with a pinkish hue as you were showing above. It would not surprise me to see that the minerals that make so many shark teeth black would interfere with any UV fluorescence. I've had meg teeth glow that I am positive have not had any restoration or sealants and so the fluorescence is definitely happening in the structure of the enamel (never got the shark tooth roots to fluoresce).

 

If each and every shark tooth fluoresced then it certainly would be easier to surface hunt for fossil shark teeth at night with a UV light. Unfortunately, the majority of the teeth (from Florida) that I've seen don't light up and so you'd miss a lot hunting at night.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[grandpa]

29 minutes ago, digit said:

If each and every shark tooth fluoresced then it certainly would be easier to surface hunt for fossil shark teeth at night with a UV light. Unfortunately, the majority of the teeth (from Florida) that I've seen don't light up and so you'd miss a lot hunting at night.

Ah, Ken!  But you don't have to find EVERY shark's tooth. (OK, give me some allowance on this point. )  The point you are overlooking is that you would find SOME teeth, and some > 0, which is what you would find sitting on the sofa watching some reality show on TV instead of being at a beautiful fossil shoreline at night with a UV light strolling the beach. 

[Gareth_]

I made a post about this on my FB page a while back, just to note the cool effect.... 

There is no coating on them, they are not fake. The different amounts of "glow" are down to the mineral composition.

I'd post the pics too but I don't think you need them, you've already observed it with your own teeth 

[RhinoWater]

Thank you so much for replying and providing so much infomation about fluorescence and fossils! Really appreciate the wealth of knowledge and help given.

 

I never knew of fossils-hunting using UV light at night is a viable way to detect certain fossils and decided to read up on it. I found an interesting writeup on this method - Croft, D. A., Kaye, T., & Panko, L. (2004). A new method for finding small vertebrate fossils: ultraviolet light at night. Palaeontology, 47(4), 795-800.

 

Have a good day, everyone.

[digit]

14 hours ago, grandpa said:

Ah, Ken!  But you don't have to find EVERY shark's tooth. (OK, give me some allowance on this point. )  The point you are overlooking is that you would find SOME teeth, and some > 0, which is what you would find sitting on the sofa watching some reality show on TV instead of being at a beautiful fossil shoreline at night with a UV light strolling the beach. 

I cannot argue this very sound logic.

 

The pandemic interrupted (and much delayed) a trip to Michigan to hunt at night for the latest mineral craze--Yooperlite! If "Yooperlite" is not on your radar screens so a search for it and get sucked down the rabbit hole for a few minutes watching videos of folks hunting for these on the beach with UV lights.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[grandpa]

Ah, yes.  I know about the yoppers.  I want me some Yooperlites too.  Let's plan a trip together!

[patelinho7]

20 minutes ago, digit said:

I cannot argue this very sound logic.

 

The pandemic interrupted (and much delayed) a trip to Michigan to hunt at night for the latest mineral craze--Yooperlite! If "Yooperlite" is not on your radar screens so a search for it and get sucked down the rabbit hole for a few minutes watching videos of folks hunting for these on the beach with UV lights.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Fascinating. A well-needed YouTube rabbit hole trip! Yooper is such a funny word too.

[trilobites_are_awesome]

The sodalites (or yooperlite) are fun to collect the better UV flashlight you get the more you find.

[Fin Lover]

Just make sure you can have artificial lighting at the beach before you go night hunting.  Here, it is prohibited May 1 - October 31 due to sea turtles.