Shark tooth - Otodus obliquus Eocene - 50 MYA Phosphate Beds, Morocco ITEM # SHARK-Morocco-0001
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$60.00
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Otodus obliquus was a prehistoric mackerel shark which lived during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, approximately about 60 to 45 million years ago. This shark is known from the fossil teeth and a few fossilized vertebral centra. Like other elasmobranchs, the skeleton of Otodus was composed of cartilage and not bone, resulting in relatively few preserved skeletal structures appearing within the fossil record. The teeth of this shark are large with triangular crown, smooth cutting edges, and visible cusps on the roots. Some Otodus teeth also show signs of evolving serrations.
The fossils of Otodus indicate that it was a very large predatory shark, with teeth measuring close to 10.2 cm (4 inch) in slant height (diagonal length) and vertebrae over 12.7 cm (5 inch) wide. Scientists estimate that this shark could probably grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) long.
Scientists postulate that Otodus evolved into the genus Carcharocles, given substantial fossil evidence in the form of transitional teeth. Some teeth have been excavated from the sediments of the Potomac River in Maryland, USA, Ypres clay in Belgium, and western Kazakhstan, which are morphologically very similar to Otodus teeth but with lightly serrated cusplets and a serrated cutting edge. These transitional fossils suggest a worldwide evolutionary event, and support the theory that Otodus eventually evolved in to Carcharocles aksuaticus and thus initiated the Carcharocles lineage.
This specimen measures approximately 2 1/2 inches long on a matrix measuring 2 7/8 inches by 1 1/2 inches.
The fossils of Otodus indicate that it was a very large predatory shark, with teeth measuring close to 10.2 cm (4 inch) in slant height (diagonal length) and vertebrae over 12.7 cm (5 inch) wide. Scientists estimate that this shark could probably grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) long.
Scientists postulate that Otodus evolved into the genus Carcharocles, given substantial fossil evidence in the form of transitional teeth. Some teeth have been excavated from the sediments of the Potomac River in Maryland, USA, Ypres clay in Belgium, and western Kazakhstan, which are morphologically very similar to Otodus teeth but with lightly serrated cusplets and a serrated cutting edge. These transitional fossils suggest a worldwide evolutionary event, and support the theory that Otodus eventually evolved in to Carcharocles aksuaticus and thus initiated the Carcharocles lineage.
This specimen measures approximately 2 1/2 inches long on a matrix measuring 2 7/8 inches by 1 1/2 inches.