This guest column is brought to you by Jayson Kowinsky, more commonly known as “The Fossil Guy.” He is the Avocational Liaison to the Paleontological Society and also runs Fossilguy.com. Jayson loves to share his interest in paleontology and prehistoric sharks, and helps enthusiasts get involved in the field of professional paleontology.
Chiseling away at a large rock lying at the bottom of a cliff, I peel back layer after layer. This is my last chance at finding a prize before winter sets in and the freeze/thaw cycle turns the rock and its contents to dust. Patience soon pays off as I uncover a shiny piece of enamel. Surgically chipping at the rock, more enamel and then root emerges. I just found a tooth from a shark that died an unimaginable time ago. To be precise, this rock formed in the Carboniferous time period, around 320 million years ago. This shark tooth doesn’t look at all like a modern day shark tooth. The blade of this tooth is split into multiple prongs; it looks more like the trident from the Roman god Neptune than a tooth.
A Carboniferous Shark Tooth recently unearthed from a rock (Photo by Jayson Kowinsky)
Historical Markers
Digging up prehistoric sharks is my passion. Having been around for 450 million years, which is hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs, they are some of the most ancient animals on Earth! Sharks are so old, that they appear in the fossil record before the origin of teeth. That’s right, the first sharks didn’t even have teeth; they were the first animals to develop them. Teeth started as streamlined denticles on their skin and slowly evolved into tooth-like structures in their mouths. Uncovering the many and remarkable changes these animals went through over geologic time is fascinating. There were even odd looking freshwater sharks. It isn’t until the age of the dinosaurs, the Mesozoic era, that sharks start to take on their modern appearance.
Fortunately, for people like me, sharks shed a lot of teeth. Their gums act as mini conveyor belts, pushing new teeth forward and expelling old teeth. A single shark is thought to lose 25,000-50,000 teeth in its lifetime! Since shark teeth are also very dense, they fossilize easily. In fact, they are one of the most common types of fossils found. Along the east coast, there are several nearshore formations that date from the Miocene to Pleistocene (24 million years to 2.5 million years ago) which are chalk full of shark teeth. A favorite past time of many beach goers and fossil collectors is to search for these ancient treasures on the beaches and coastal streams.
Ancient Megalodon Shark teeth (Photo: Jayson Kowinsky)
Modern Relics
One of the more prized shark teeth is the Megalodon. At over 60 feet long, it was the largest shark to ever live. Teeth from this beast can reach up to 7 inches in size! It could have swallowed a person whole, but luckily for us, this prehistoric shark died at the end of the Pliocene around 2.5 million years ago!
Sharks’ abilities to adapt and change over millions of years have made them some of the most resilient animals on earth. They have survived a whopping 5 mass extinctions that ended most other life on Earth. However, today, sharks are under a great threat from humans. Their habitats are being destroyed and they are being overfished. One of my goals by sharing knowledge of prehistoric sharks is to instill a sense of wonder and respect for these creatures. By not purchasing modern shark teeth and jaws, and by not eating shark meat, individuals can help these amazing creatures survive another 100 million years! Go out and search for fossil shark teeth, you will be amazed at what you learn and discover!
If you want to know where and how to find fossil shark teeth, check out my website at https://www.fossilguy.com. It contains over a dozen fossil collecting sites complete with directions, tips, and fossil identification. Many of these sites have fossil shark teeth. I hope to see you out some day looking for the fossilized remains of these wonderful animals!