Minnesota Shark Tooth?

[iluvcats59]

Hello folks! I just joined the forum in hopes that someone could help us identify the shark tooth my daughter found this weekend. We live in south central MN and were rock hunting in one of the exposed riverbeds nearby. I've been a rock/fossil hunter all my life, but I've never heard of someone finding a shark tooth in this area! It looks like there's a lot of knowledge here, so am hoping you might be able to help.

TIA for your help!

Edited September 19, 2011 by iluvcats59

[Caleb]

It could be a glacial erratic. Many years ago my father took my scout troop on a collecting trip in the Decorah shale (Ordovician in age-older than sharks) near Rochester, MN. Sure enough there was a pocket of glacial till at the top of the road cut that was full of small shark teeth. Other than this occurance I have not known of any other shark teeth from southern MN. Some of the shark tooth people on here may be able to lend a hand for an ID (I'm trilobites mainly). Cool find!

Edited September 19, 2011 by Caleb

[Auspex]

There is no telling how this got to where you found it; definitely not locally grown!

[DeloiVarden]

Here is a link about Cretaceous shark teeth in Minnesota. Your tooth is too worn to say for sure, but I am willing to bet it was a sand tiger of some sort. Movement of fossils throughout the state could have occured from all types of natural events including glacial movement. Very interested never the less.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/education/geology/digging/fossils.html

Edited September 19, 2011 by DeloiVarden

[erose]

Here is a link about Cretaceous shark teeth in Minnesota. Your tooth is too worn to say for sure, but I am willing to bet it was a sand tiger of some sort. Movement of fossils throughout the state could have occured from all types of natural events including glacial movement. Very interested never the less.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/education/geology/digging/fossils.html

I want to see the paleo map that has Minnesota under the sea.

[Caleb]

I want to see the paleo map that has Minnesota under the sea.

Here's a bedrock map of Minnesota My link.

[iluvcats59]

Thanks for the responses and interest! Actually, I'm in an area that was just at the very eastern edge of the seaway that covered MN during the cretaceous period. Here is a map that shows the coverage. Fossil shark teeth are found west of here, but one person from that area that I've been in contact with (has found about 200 himself), has only found one of this size - his have all been smaller. There have also been teeth found around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Because of the rivers here, I do wonder if it wasn't carried from the west via the Minnesota River. We do find a lot of fossil sponges and coral, and the occasional shells. I actually found a nice rock with shell fossils in it that same afternoon, but it was pretty trumped by the tooth.

We have hunted down by Spring Valley/Rochester area and have found some interesting cephalopod fossils and other small marine creatures.

We definitely have glacial drift deposits here, too. We've found a lot of Lake Superior agates that were dropped here as they melted. A nice one of those is normally the prize find when we go hunting!

[fossilselachian]

I want to see the paleo map that has Minnesota under the sea.

Cretaceous age shark teeth are not uncommon finds in at least two areas of MN

I know of several papers describing shark teeth from MN.

1) The iron ore areas in the Hibbing and Keewatin areas.

2) The granite mines in Bellingham area.

[Caleb]

Thanks for the responses and interest! Actually, I'm in an area that was just at the very eastern edge of the seaway that covered MN during the cretaceous period. Here is a map that shows the coverage. Fossil shark teeth are found west of here, but one person from that area that I've been in contact with (has found about 200 himself), has only found one of this size - his have all been smaller. There have also been teeth found around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Because of the rivers here, I do wonder if it wasn't carried from the west via the Minnesota River. We do find a lot of fossil sponges and coral, and the occasional shells. I actually found a nice rock with shell fossils in it that same afternoon, but it was pretty trumped by the tooth.

We have hunted down by Spring Valley/Rochester area and have found some interesting cephalopod fossils and other small marine creatures.

We definitely have glacial drift deposits here, too. We've found a lot of Lake Superior agates that were dropped here as they melted. A nice one of those is normally the prize find when we go hunting!

The rocks around Minneapolis and Rochester are Ordovician in age, so any shark teeth around those areas would be from glacial drift (likely Cretaceous in age).

Edited September 20, 2011 by Caleb

[Gizmo]

Don't rule out trading between indian tribes. " From about 100 B.C., a new mound-building culture flourished in the Midwest, known as the Hopewell. These people developed thousands of villages extending across what is now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri. The Hopewell supported themselves by hunting, fishing, and gathering, and also cultivated a variety of crops, including corn. The Hopewell developed an extensive trading network, obtaining shells and shark teeth from Florida, pipestone from Minnesota, volcanic glass from Wyoming, and silver from Ontario.

The Hopewell created stratified societies, and buried their leaders in earthen mounds, filled with art works made of materials imported from areas more than a thousand miles away. The Hopewell built many more mounds than the Adena. A colder climate appears to have contributed to the decline of the Hopewell beginning around A.D. 450."

An excerpt from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/native_voices/nav1.html

[siteseer]

Earlier this year, we talked about shark teeth in Minnesota. Check it out:

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/20121-fossil-cretodus-shark-teeth/page__p__222648__hl__minnesota__fromsearch__1#entry222648:

Hello folks! I just joined the forum in hopes that someone could help us identify the shark tooth my daughter found this weekend. We live in south central MN and were rock hunting in one of the exposed riverbeds nearby. I've been a rock/fossil hunter all my life, but I've never heard of someone finding a shark tooth in this area! It looks like there's a lot of knowledge here, so am hoping you might be able to help.

TIA for your help!

[iluvcats59]

Earlier this year, we talked about shark teeth in Minnesota. Check it out:

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/20121-fossil-cretodus-shark-teeth/page__p__222648__hl__minnesota__fromsearch__1#entry222648:

This is exactly the thread that led me to this site for help! I notice one of the papers referenced in a post is about the Minnesota River Valley, which is where I am located.