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Where are all the dentitions? This forum topic seeks to locate all known Megalodon dentitions (in private and museum collections). Associated dentitions of Megalodon (or any shark) are extremely rare and can offer insurmountable information regarding life history, anatomy, and, potentially, behavior. However, there is no way to just search where all the Megalodon dentitions are located. I’m hoping we can aggregate a list of all known Megalodon dentitions.
I know that Gordon Hubbell has four or five dentitions in his collection and I believe the Smithsonian has two. Are there more? Where are they? Contribute to the conversation by reporting another dentition, where it’s stored, and an image if possible! @lcone, @cferrara, @lmccall, @dbohaska, @jnance
*Note: Associated dentitions are generally comprised of a set of teeth that were found together and likely belonged to a single individual. This differs from the composite dentitions that are mounted in plaster jaws and often put on display at museums.
Hi Victor @vperez –
Contact Cynthia Crane at the Aurora Fossil Museum. There is one partial megalodon associated dentition at the museum, as well as a multi-file associated paratodus.Dear Suzanne @sgalligher,
I use our Megalodon Forum as a platform to answer your question about potential other megalodon body parts that might have been found beside teeth and vertebrae. Please do also use this forum for further questions, we appreciate it very much. As far as I know not much else has been found other than teeth and vertebrae. Probably some cartilage fragments but nothing really identifiable. There are some findings with associated teeth where all the teeth were found in the correct place and order but still there was no jaw material left since the cartilage has been dissolved over time. The problem is the size of the Megs. It is much harder for a huge specimen to get completely fossilized since it is more unlikely to completely get covered in a dense cloud of very fine sediments in just a few seconds. That is what actually has to happen to preserve soft tissue or cartilage. But it is not impossible! As you can see with the samples from the Solnhofener Plattenkalk or the Posidonienschiefer in Germany, shark soft tissue was preserved. Another outstanding example is the fossil record of the Great White Shark from the Pliocene of Peru housed in Gordon Hubbell’s collection (Ehret D. J.; Hubbell G.; Macfadden B. J. [2009]. “Exceptional preservation of the white shark Carcharodon from the early Pliocene of Peru” (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1671/039.029.0113.)
A very helpful resource comes from our friend Jayson (@jayson-kowinsky) and his very nice website:
http://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/vert/fish-shark/remnant.htm
maybe he knows of some preserved Meg cartilage?
I hope I could help you
Best
Ronny
Partial dentition Bone Valley. I was like boy there is a lot of megs on this hill. I was just starting out and didn’t know what I had, otherwise I would have turned that hill into a hole.
Hey Bill! @bill-heim
Thank you for sharing this info! I have a few questions:
- Is your Bone Valley Meg limited to those 10 teeth or do you have more of it? And, would you be willing to share crown height and crown width measurements for it?
- Do you happen to have a copy of the full article that describes the types specimen of Angustidens that you could share?
- Would you happen to know if measurements have been taken/reported from the dentition in North Carolina? I was supposed to travel to Raleigh for a conference next month, but our workshop was cancelled. Otherwise, I was going to go try and measure it myself.
Just the 10, they were found in close proximity to each other, I will provide measurements, the largest is about 3 inches slant.I only have the 2 pages of the angustidens, I don’t remember where I got it from.I don’t know the exact measurements of the NC dentition. They are about 6 inch teeth. Attached is another image.There is also a complete or near complete vertebral column in the Belgium museum. I don’t know if there are teeth with it, I would suspect there was.10 associated teeth from Gardenier Phosphate (Ft. Meade, FL) Late 1980’s
Left to right, 5 Upper teeth: All measurements taken on the labial side.
Upper right lateral tooth possibly L3. Overall slant height 56mm, width across the root 49mm, overall height 50mm, width across enamel 48mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel) 35mm, enamel height from center of enamel 29mm.
Upper left anterior tooth probably A2. Overall slant height 70mm, width across the root 54mm, overall height 64mm, width across enamel 50mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 51mm, enamel height from center of enamel 45mm.
Upper left anterior tooth probably A3. Overall slant height 64mm, width across the root 49mm, overall height 59mm, width across enamel 48mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 44mm, enamel height from center of enamel 39mm.
Upper left lateral tooth possibly L4. Overall slant height 49mm, width across the root 43mm, overall height 40mm, width across enamel 43mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 33mm, enamel height from center of enamel 28mm. (note due to tip wear may 1 add mm to heights)
Upper left posterior tooth possibly P1. Overall slant height 49mm, width across the root 35mm, overall height 30mm, width across enamel 34mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 23mm, enamel height from center of enamel 21mm. (note due to tip wear may add 1 or 2 mm to heights)
10 associated teeth from Gardenier Phosphate (Ft. Meade, FL) Late 1980’s
Left to right, 5 Lower teeth: All measurements taken on the labial side.
Lower right Anterior tooth possibly A1. Overall slant height 57mm, width across the root 40mm, overall vertical height 51mm, width across enamel 37mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel) 40mm, enamel height from center of enamel 36mm.
Lower right anterior tooth probably A2. Overall slant height 56mm, width across the root 54mm, overall vertical height 51mm, width across enamel 34mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 38mm, enamel height from center of enamel 33mm. (note due to major tip feeding wear may add 3 or 4 mm to heights)
Lower symphyseal (or parasymphyseal) anterior tooth probably S1 (yes it appears megalodon and Otodus had lower symphyseals often known as Hubbell teeth). Overall slant height 49mm, width across the root 32mm, overall vertical height 45mm, width across enamel 48mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 33mm, enamel height from center of enamel 31mm.
Lower right lateral tooth possibly L1. Overall slant height 58mm, width across the root 39mm, overall vertical height 54mm, width across enamel 39mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 38mm, enamel height from center of enamel 32mm. (note due to tip wear may 1 add mm to heights)
Lower left lateral tooth possibly L2. Overall slant height 57mm, width across the root 40mm, overall vertical height 51mm, width across enamel 39mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 39mm, enamel height from center of enamel 35mm. (note due to feeding tip wear may add 2 or 3 mm to heights)
Left/Rights mixed up
10 associated teeth from Gardenier Phosphate (Ft. Meade, FL) Late 1980’s
Left to right, 5 Upper teeth: All measurements taken on the labial side.
Upper left lateral tooth possibly L3. Overall slant height 56mm, width across the root 49mm, overall height 50mm, width across enamel 48mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel) 35mm, enamel height from center of enamel 29mm.
Upper right anterior tooth probably A2. Overall slant height 70mm, width across the root 54mm, overall height 64mm, width across enamel 50mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 51mm, enamel height from center of enamel 45mm.
Upper right anterior tooth probably A3. Overall slant height 64mm, width across the root 49mm, overall height 59mm, width across enamel 48mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 44mm, enamel height from center of enamel 39mm.
Upper right lateral tooth possibly L4. Overall slant height 49mm, width across the root 43mm, overall height 40mm, width across enamel 43mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 33mm, enamel height from center of enamel 28mm. (note due to tip wear may 1 add mm to heights)
Upper right posterior tooth possibly P1. Overall slant height 49mm, width across the root 35mm, overall height 30mm, width across enamel 34mm, enamel height (from lowest point of enamel sides) 23mm, enamel height from center of enamel 21mm. (note due to tip wear may add 1 or 2 mm to heights)
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