Happy
Fossil Friday!
Friday September 18, 2020
Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Shark Teeth
Information from: Sternberg
Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas
A very
common fossil to find,
especially in Kansas which was under water during much of the age of dinosaurs
(see map below), are isolated shark teeth. In fact, shark teeth are one of the
most common vertebrate fossils in the entire fossil record. Sharks have been
around for over 450 million years (dinosaurs only 245 to 66 million years ago).
They are iconically known to be the ocean’s top predator with a very sharp and
toothy smile. Sharks have multiple rows of teeth that are constantly falling
out and being replaced. A single shark can go through thousands of teeth in a
lifetime. For this reason alone, it is no surprise that shark teeth are one of
the most common fossils to find and why paleontology collection drawers are
full of them. Entire shark fossils not so much because sharks do not have bony
skeletons to become fossilized, only cartilage.