These are the last of the teeth that I have been profiling that came in a bag of mixed shark teeth labelled as "Belgrade Quarry, NC". The two teeth shown here were a bit easier to ID for me although I still needed to get confirmation from the Fossil Forum. I recognized these teeth as belonging to a Sand Tiger shark, but the Fossil Forum member "Sixgill Pete" was able to further ID them as Carcharias cuspidata which is very common in the Belgrade formation.
Specimen #1 -
Specimen #2
The Belgrade formation is dated to the early Miocene epoch of the Paleogene period.
Showing posts with label Belgrade quarry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgrade quarry. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Hemipristis serra teeth from the Belgrade Quarry?
The teeth of the extinct Snaggletooth shark (Hemipristis serra) are fairly easy to ID from the tooth shape alone. Triangular in shape, usually angled to one side, and with large serrations along the edges, particularly along the edge that was facing towards the back of the jaw. Below are three teeth, two laterals and a frontal, that came in a bag of mixed teeth marked "Belgrade Quarry, NC".
Specimen #1 - right side lateral tooth
Specimen #2 - left side lateral tooth
Specimen #3 - frontal tooth
As I mentioned earlier , these teeth came in a bag labelled as "Belgrade Quarry, NC". That quarry exposes sediments from the Eocene to the Miocene. Hemipristis serra is known from that quarry but the color of these teeth seem to indicate a different source. Perhaps the Lee Creek quarry, also in North Carolina, where this species is known to be found in the Yorktown formation (late Miocene-Early Pliocene)?
Specimen #1 - right side lateral tooth
Specimen #2 - left side lateral tooth
Specimen #3 - frontal tooth
As I mentioned earlier , these teeth came in a bag labelled as "Belgrade Quarry, NC". That quarry exposes sediments from the Eocene to the Miocene. Hemipristis serra is known from that quarry but the color of these teeth seem to indicate a different source. Perhaps the Lee Creek quarry, also in North Carolina, where this species is known to be found in the Yorktown formation (late Miocene-Early Pliocene)?
Friday, February 28, 2020
Carcharocles angustidens teeth from the Belgrade/River Bend formation
In a bag of fossil shark teeth that I purchased I found a number of these triangular shaped teeth. The bag was labelled "Belgrade Quarry" with no other information. I spent a hour or so looking for fossil shark tooth pictures on Google Images that matched what I had and the closest were Carcharocles angustidens. A quick posting to the Fossil Forum website confirmed that these were indeed C. angustidens teeth and that they could be found at the Belgrade quarry.
More web searches ultimately led me to Wikipedia and to the follow logic: These fossils come from the Belgrade quarry in North Carolina. Rocks exposed in that quarry range from the Eocene to the Miocene epochs. C. angustidens existed in the late Oligocene and early Miocene (33-22 mya, Rupelian stage to Aquitanian stage). That narrows the formations they could have been found in to the River Bend formation (Late Oligocene) and the Belgrade formation (Early Miocene). Both of those formations at one point or another were considered part of the Trent marl which was originally dated to the Eocene epoch. Oh yeah, and C. angustidens was an relative of the Megalodon (no biggie) 1,2,3.
It's nice to have a little bit more information on these fossils as they are a species I did not have in my collection previously. Three of the specimens below would have been found on the front of the shark's jaw while the last one has a little bit more of a curve in it so likely came from along the side or back of the jaw.
Specimen 1
Specimen 2
Specimen 3
Specimen 4
These teeth were found at the Belgrade Quarry near Maysville, in North Carolina in the Belgrade /River Bend formations.
1. Wikipedia - Carcharocles angustidens article
2. Wikipedia - Belgrade formation article
3. Wikipedia - River Bend formation article
More web searches ultimately led me to Wikipedia and to the follow logic: These fossils come from the Belgrade quarry in North Carolina. Rocks exposed in that quarry range from the Eocene to the Miocene epochs. C. angustidens existed in the late Oligocene and early Miocene (33-22 mya, Rupelian stage to Aquitanian stage). That narrows the formations they could have been found in to the River Bend formation (Late Oligocene) and the Belgrade formation (Early Miocene). Both of those formations at one point or another were considered part of the Trent marl which was originally dated to the Eocene epoch. Oh yeah, and C. angustidens was an relative of the Megalodon (no biggie) 1,2,3.
It's nice to have a little bit more information on these fossils as they are a species I did not have in my collection previously. Three of the specimens below would have been found on the front of the shark's jaw while the last one has a little bit more of a curve in it so likely came from along the side or back of the jaw.
Specimen 1
Specimen 2
Specimen 3
Specimen 4
These teeth were found at the Belgrade Quarry near Maysville, in North Carolina in the Belgrade /River Bend formations.
1. Wikipedia - Carcharocles angustidens article
2. Wikipedia - Belgrade formation article
3. Wikipedia - River Bend formation article
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