Is It A Meg Tooth?

[MOROPUS]

I buy it for a few bucks to a trader in a show.The shape is very similar to the meg`s, and even the "saw" margins.I have been looking for a meg long time ago, because here are very difficult to find...Even if you buy them, they a very expensive...

[Gatorman]

i see signs of cusplets on the sides which makes me think it might be a Carcharocles chubutensis not a meg

[MOROPUS]

No cusplets or signs of them around! Look at it carefully.And that shark you mention;is it worldwide spread? I`ve never heard that name in European books I`ve got... :huh:

[Gatorman]

if you look at the area's I circled, those are what I believe to be cusplets the one on the left hand side is almost a double cusplet megs can sometimes have what almost appears to be cusplets but are much more shallow and are less noticeable. chubutensis teeth can be found in most places megs are found it seems there is some debate on whether or not the two lived at the same time or if it was simply the precursor shark to the meg.

[MOROPUS]

Thanks for your help!!!

[Harry Pristis]

if you look at the area's I circled, those are what I believe to be cusplets the one on the left hand side is almost a double cusplet megs can sometimes have what almost appears to be cusplets but are much more shallow and are less noticeable. chubutensis teeth can be found in most places megs are found it seems there is some debate on whether or not the two lived at the same time or if it was simply the precursor shark to the meg.

You're correct, Anson, that there is lack of clear distinction between Carcharocles megalodon and Carcharocles chubutensis. Bretton Kent in his FOSSIL SHARKS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION (1994) gives a reasoned argument that these ARE distinct species, while he discusses the unknowns of this taxonomic challenge.

Kent asserts that small (younger sharks) examples from each species are found in the same sediments, though he identifies C. chubutensis as an Early through Middle Miocene species in the Chesapeake Bay exposures. He writes that this species also has been reported from Argentina, Germany, and North Carolina. No mention is made of the Late Miocene phosphates of South Central Florida.

Here is a pair of Carcharocles teeth from the Florida phosphate. I think of them both as C. megalodon. What do you think?

-------------Harry Pristis

[Gatorman]

I would consider the one with the cusplets a chubutensis.

[Northern Sharks]

I would agree that the one on the left is a chubutensis. Also, shark teeth are measured from the tip of the blade to the tip of the root (the longest possible measurement) and anything over 3 inches from bone valley is considered scarce. Great teeth and great color as well