WSBob Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 How do you tell a baby meg tooth from other small teeth? Thanks - Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 How do you tell a baby meg tooth from other small teeth? Thanks - Bob I have been curious and others have commented. There are a couple of questions: Is the tooth a meg? Is a small meg a "baby tooth" or merely a small tooth of a larger shark? What constitutes "baby"? a shark under 10 feet? So, 1) must have serrations 2) do serrations decrease in size or stay constant going to the tip 3) must have a bourlette, 4) should have a robust root. Here are some of my small meg candidates - may not be baby teeth On the 2nd pic , it is a Meg sandwiched between a GW and a Bull. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 i think the short answer is that you find a good number of either real specimens or photos of verified teeth of the type you're wondering about, and study them until you've got the "eye" for them and can just tell them when you see them. then you get some specimens or photos of similar-looking teeth of other species and start studying those too, trying to memorize the subtle differences. you can "cheat" a bit by just having some saved good reference photos and bringing home stuff you find and comparing the found stuff to the photos. that would save some memorizing. this is a horrible analogy, but to me, baby megs have a robustness and breadth about the root that seems out-of-sync with the blade and hints of size to come, almost like a small dog with huge feet - you just know it ain't gonna grow up to be a schnauzer. whut? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Some Small Megs- November, 2016 April, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSBob Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 This is why this is such a great site - great people willing to share. Thank you so very much for the info. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 i left out that i almost always try to look up or figure out what age the area i'm searching is and what all has been found there by others. doing a bit of studying on the geology and paleontology of a locality can prevent a lot of errors. like, if i find a baby meg at a locality that was marine eocene but then was just a land site after the eocene, then i would figure the tooth either fell out of somebody's pocket, or that i'm delusional yet again... fortunately for me i don't keep score... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I agree that saving and studying photos is probably the best way to learn. Here's a recent little meg that could have been thrown in the big bull shark tooth pile if someone didn't know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I agree with both of the last 2 posts: Tracer, Not only the eocene, miocene, pliocene distinctions, but also local variations that exist currently. There are spots in the river, where I have found 98% of my makos, 90% of my Megs, 80% of my hemis. There is a spot where 95% of the teeth I find are Bull/Dusky. Nothing is certain, but IF I find a tooth that might be a small meg, it requires more proof and clarity if found where Bull teeth are prevalent. Cris, the hardest distinction I find is between equal small size (1+ inch) Meg and Bull teeth.. Both have bourlettes and serrations.. It may be the robustness of the root or the lack of the V on the crown. It takes a trained eye The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Sharks Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Something else to take into account, shark's teeth decrease in size the further back they are in the jaw. A small extreme posterior tooth, such as the one Shellseeker posted, likely came from a big shark. There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Something else to take into account, shark's teeth decrease in size the further back they are in the jaw. A small extreme posterior tooth, such as the one Shellseeker posted, likely came from a big shark. depends on which direction they're swimmin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoc Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 In Carcharhinus teeth such as this Silky shark tooth and bull shark teeth, there is a groove containing the foramin (nutrient hole) running down the middle of the root on the lingual (rounded) side http://www.elasmo.com/genera/pics/neogene/ds1300x03-web.jpg In Carcharocles (megs) and other lamniformes (such as the great white), there are one or more foramen (holes) in the root but no groove. http://www.elasmo.com/heim/leecreek/pics/c_meg-gp.jpg http://www.elasmo.com/genera/pics/extant/ds1125-web.jpg An associated set of juvenile (half-grown) megalodons showing what each tooth position looks like. http://www.elasmo.com/genera/pics/neogene/ds1001-web.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 In Carcharhinus teeth such as this Silky shark tooth and bull shark teeth, there is a groove containing the foramin (nutrient hole) running down the middle of the root on the lingual (rounded) side http://www.elasmo.com/genera/pics/neogene/ds1300x03-web.jpg Thanks Paleoc, I came back and copied this post because it will help me to identify Megs, and also because I found what I believe to be a Bull Shark tooth, even though it has serrations, a bourlette, a robust root, no discernible foramin grove, and was found where there are very few bulls, and many meg fragments. I am always suspicious when I see that telltale "v" on one side of the crown. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoc Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Thanks Paleoc, I came back and copied this post because it will help me to identify Megs, and also because I found what I believe to be a Bull Shark tooth, even though it has serrations, a bourlette, a robust root, no discernible foramin grove, and was found where there are very few bulls, and many meg fragments. I am always suspicious when I see that telltale "v" on one side of the crown. Tiger shark (mayumbensis from the look of it). Note the depression/dent for the foramin groove which would be more prominent if it wasn't worn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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