Shark Teeth?

[hrguy54]

I know when I find a trilobite or a horn coral, etc that it's a fossil. I've never gone searching for shark teeth, don't know if I ever will, but.... how do you tell if a shark tooth you find is a fossil or just one lost 1000 years ago? Or 50? Or just last year? I understand that where its found may lead you to believe it's a fossil, or its size, but how can you tell just looking at a random tooth? I've looked at many of the pics people send in and can't tell.

[Paleoc]

Modern teeth are white (just like yours) and very light.

[Coco]

Each shark species has its particular tooth (or teeth) form. Have a look of one of my posts about selachian teeth http://www.thefossil...-of-selachians/ It is about recent species, but in a first time it permit you to know the differences of teeth.

With geology, we can know the age of the areas, and the species know in these levels. The colour (color ) could help to know if the tooth is recent or not, but it is not real 100%. A tooth could be colored fastly.

A day I found stone marten died on the road. I got back it and put it in an iron box pierced, with some ground) and I buried the whole in my kitchen garden during 6 months. It was on winter and there was many rain. At the end of 6 months, I dug up the box and got back all the bones, nails, teeth etc... The whole skeleton (teeth including) had an attractive orange color due to the fact that the iron box made rusthy and coloured bones and teeth, in 6 months !

Coco

[RickNC]

Most of the ones I find are found in inland creeks and rivers which confirms they are not modern as those areas have not been sea for a very long time.