OCTOBER
2006
What a treat to document this educational
feast, to be able to share with others. Dr. Hubbell has perhaps the
largest and best preserved collection of rare shark jaws and rare fossil
shark teeth, and associated teeth, in the world.
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Assorted
shark jaws, a phenomenal collection:
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INTERESTING
SHARK TOOTH FACTS,
COMPARISON TEETH, DEFORMED TEETH |
How
big do shark teeth get? Here is a 7-1/4" specimen that is among
the largest known:
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Shapes
of different species of shark teeth: Shortfin & longfin mako, great
white, Six gill, tiger, blue, sand tiger, lemon, great hammerhead, spotted
Wobbegong, megamouth, bigeye thresher, bull, bigeye sand tiger, and
Greenland sharks
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Natural
colors of fossilized shark teeth, depending on the minerals in the soil
where they fossilize:
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A
shark's teeth are not attached with roots into sockets. They are
only attached to the gums, and move forward as the front row teeth fall
out. By the time this shark is 25 years old, it will have shed 20,000 or more teeth:
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Fossil
shark teeth from different countries:
Germany, Italy, Japan, Mariana Trench, New
Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Malta, Morocco, France, Belgium
Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina:
United States: VA, MD, NC, CA, FL, GA,
SC:
Fossil shark teeth of Florida:
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Comparison
of Teeth:
PHOTO 1:T-Rex, elephant tusk, whale, antelope,
chimpanzee, seal, bison, sloth, pig
PHOTO 2: Spinosaurus, Saber tooth cat,
rattlesnake, bobcat, rodent, crocodile, alligator
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Top
row, normal shark teeth. Subsequent rows, various deformities:
Other tooth deformities:
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GREAT
WHITE SHARK & FOSSIL GREAT WHITE |
Perfect
great white shark teeth & mouth placement:
Deformed great white shark teeth:
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Two
magnificent great white shark jaws. The smaller is from a 16 foot
male caught in Key Largo. The larger is from an 18'2" female
caught near Bunbury Esperance on 7/1/91, Australia (jaw measures 32"
wide x 28" tall
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1987,
California, Craig Rogers was on his surfboard when it was it was bitten by
a great white shark that left two teeth behind:
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ASSOCIATED
GREAT WHITE SHARK JAW IN MATRIX
Dr.
Hubbell found the
only complete fossilized skull of a great white shark ever recovered (5
million year old Carcharodon carcharias), found in Sacaco Peru in
1988. Note the attached vertebrae. Photo with Dr. Hubbell (left)
and Glenn (right).
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Part
of an associated set of fossilized great white shark teeth also found in
Sacaco Peru
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Modern
and fossil great white shark vertebrae comparison:
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Carcharocles
Poseidoni, in original matrix, from Kazakhstan, the only known of its kind
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MEGALODON
SHARK & Chubutensis |
Carcharocles
(Carcharodon) Megalodon
Megatoothed shark grew to 60 feet long, and
lived from 15 million to 2 million years ago. Teeth grew to 7"
long. This is the most complete set of megalodon teeth every
found. These are casts made from the originals.
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Early
Miocene Megtatooth Shark (Carcharocles chubutensis) found on the West bank
of the Ica River, Peru in 1993
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EXTINCT
MACKEREL SHARK
Otodus obliquus |
This
large Lamniform shark grew to 40 feet. There are 146 teeth fully or
nearly developed, 40 embryonic. Most were contained in 3 pieces of
matrix, the largest piece with 64 teeth. Khourigba, Morocco.
June 2005
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Associated
teeth from this large fish-eating shark that lived 50 million years ago,
it grew to 40 feet long.
110 teeth, 34 vertebrae. Collected in
the Atlas Mountains Phosphate Pits near Khourigba, Morocco, July 2004
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This
set of 95 teeth comes from a shark that lived in our oceans 50 million
years ago. These associated sets of shark teeth are extremely rare
and very important to scientific study. They are the key to a better
understanding of fossil sharks and shark evolution.
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Associated
180 Echinorhinus shark teeth, an extinct Bramble shark, from Northern
Chile, the only associated set known
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Vertebrae
that are associated with one of the Fossil Mackerel Shark (Moroccan Otodus
obliquus) tooth sets above, still in protective plaster,
under Dr. Hubbell's display table:
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MAKO
SHARK |
Miocene
Mako, Isurus hastalis
This large Lamniform shark grew to 28' and was
the precursor to the modern Great white shark. 165 teeth in this
associated set, one of the most complete ever found (near Sacaco Peru)
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OTHER
WEIRD SHARKS |
Megamouth
Shark. The only known set of associated teeth from this rare Miocene
shark, found in Copiapo, Chile (5 million years old)
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Basking
Shark - Cetorhinus maximus, 2nd largest living shark species that
grows up to 30' long, eats plankton, has 1200 teeth in its jaw, caught off
the coast of Mexico:
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Whale
shark jaw
Rhincodon typus, largest living shark, up to
47 feet long, eats plankton, jaw has 5000 teeth. This is from a 10'
juvenile
(Tiny) whale shark teeth under a magnifying
glass:
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Eocene
Sand Tiger associated vertebrae
Jaekelotodus trigonalis
Found in Western Kazakhstan
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Frilled
shark jaw
Chlamydoselachus anguincus
New Zealand
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Nursehound
shark
Scyliorhinus stellaris
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Whiskery
shark
Furgaleus macki
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Pencil
shark
Hypogaleus hyogaensis, Australia
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Gummy
shark
Mustelus antarticus, Australia
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Roughskin
spurdog shark
squalus asper
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Australian
Swellshark
Cephaloscyllium laticeps
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Kitefin
shark
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Leopard
shark
Triakis semifasciata
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Plunket
shark
Centrasayminus plunketi
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Centropheass
Niauvang
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Cookie
cutter shark
Isistius brasiliensis
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New
Zealand Lantern shark
Etmopterus baxteri
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Birdbeak
dogfish shark
Deania calcea
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Cretaceous
Sawshark
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Sawshark
mount
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Bigeye
Sand
tiger
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Goblin
shark jaw
(still a favorite of Heidi's)
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Smaltooth
sand tiger shark teeth
(Odontaspis ferox)
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Fossil
blind shark teeth
(Brachaelarus species)
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Whorl-toothed
shark (Helicoprion bessonowi) found in Russia and in the Western U.S. but
no other part of the jaw or shark has ever been found, so they do not know
how it fits into the jaw
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Snaggletooth
(Hemipristis serra) modern & Miocene fossil associated shark
teeth. Fossil shark grew to 16 feet, modern counterpart grows to
half that length. Fossil teeth found near Ica, Peru
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Edestus
Heinrichi
300 million years old,
Pennsylvania.
This is 9 teeth in one section:
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Xenacanthus
texensis shark teeth (Oklahoma)
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Crusher-toothed
shark (pychodus mortoni), upper teeth
Lane County, Kansas, 90 million years old
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Cladont
Shark
Cladoselache fyleri, Devonian shark, Ohio
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Fossil
shark tooth in matrix
Petalodus alleghenensis, Elkville IL
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Teeth
in matrix
Petalodus species, Coleman TX, and
Paleozoic Sharks:
Symmorium sp (Indiana) and
Fossil Symmorid shark (Kentucky)
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Fossil
shark tooth in matrix,
Orodus sp. , (Indiana)
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Shark tooth in matrix.
Ctenoptychius
Species. From the Coleman Clay pit, Coleman
TX. 345 million years old.
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Crusher-toothed
shark (upper teeth)
Ptychodus mortoni, Niobrara Formation, Smoky
Hill Member, Upper Cretaceous (90 million years old), from Lane County,
Kansas
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Gordon
completed a model of the Winghead Shark, Eusphyra blochii
This species of hammerhead shark has the
widest head of any shark, equaling 50% of the length of the shark.
Found throughout the South Pacific and Indian Ocean
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Small
Megamouth shark skull being prepped by Gordon
Update from Gordon 8/11/11 -I haven't done a
whole lot of prep work on it. According to Jose Castro the jaw is from a
male. He based this on the size of the teeth. I would guess that it is
from a fairly large specimen - in the neighborhood of 15 feet total
length. It was caught in the southern Philippines in March of 2009.
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Cretoxyrhina
mantelli, Associated fossil teeth. This large predatory shark grew
to 20+ feet. An adult specimen, 110 teeth and a few pieces of
cartilage
(Kansas) May 2006
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RAY,
SNAPPER & other FISH JAWS & SKELETONS |
Bat
ray jaw
Myliobatus californium (California)
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Manta
ray skeleton (wow!)
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Shark
ray jaw
Rhina ancylostoma
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Barracuda
skull
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Cutlass
fish skull
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Alligator
gar pike skull
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Cubrera
Snapper
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Spotted
Eagle Ray jaw
Aetobatus marinari
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OTHER
VERTEBRAE |
Megalodon
(Carcharocles megalodon, Miocene, 10 million)
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Fossil
great white shark (5 million),
Mackerel shark (90 million)
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Isurolamna
bajarunasi (38 million)
Snaggletooth (10 million)
Jaekelotodus trigonalis
(40 million)
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Comparison
of 18 other modern shark vertebrae
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