Comments on: Our first vertebrate fossil

By: Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:44:45 +0000

This is as fun as it looks, Elyssa. (Except for the chigger part.) I’m so glad you are in the same discipline!

By: Elyssa Krivicich

Elyssa Krivicich — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:49:59 +0000

Awesome photo and super cool. You don’t know how much it excites me to hear about your research.

By: Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:42:38 +0000

Well done, Andrew, and quick! The photo scale is supposed to be the lines in Megan’s palm — art trumped science. You will soon have your own handful of teeth.

By: Andrew Retzler

Andrew Retzler — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:34:04 +0000

I would definitely say the tooth is within the Squalicorax genera due to the general shape and size (although the size is hard to judge without a scale). It becomes more fuzzy when determining the species, but I narrowed it down to Squalicorax “pristodontus” or Squalicorax “kaupi”. In my opinion, this tooth fits more into the description Squalicorax “kaupi” due to the visible notch on the distal edge. Both of these sharks also existed in the Upper Cretaceous, making them good possibilities!

Check out this website (http://www.elasmo.com/frameMe.html?file=home.html&menu=bin/menu_home-alt.html) to see images and a description of several Upper Cretaceous Squalicorax sharks.

I’m looking forward to finding a few of my own in Israel!