Broad, flat triangular crown like a white shark—but with completely smooth cutting edges.
Worn white-shark serrations can imitate a smooth edge; inspect both edges with magnification.
01
ORIGINAL VISUAL PLATE
Front, edge and jaw position.
02
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Broad triangle
- Cutting edge
- Smooth edge
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Deep V-shaped root or Wide / nearly flat root
- Reference tooth height
- About 18–70 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Jaw variation
- Smooth broad uppers resemble unserrated white-shark teeth; lowers are narrower.
03
ECOLOGY + SCALE
The shark behind the tooth.
- Habitat
- Miocene–Pliocene temperate and warm offshore seas.
- Diet
- Large fishes and marine mammals are inferred.
- Estimated shark size
- Often estimated around 5–7 m (16–23 ft), depending on method and specimen.
- Bite force
- Not directly measurable; published body-size estimates do not yield a verified bite force.
- Fossil occurrence
- Common in Miocene–Pliocene marine deposits.
- Time range
- Miocene–Pliocene
04
FUNCTION
Form follows feeding.
This combination of a broad lamniform blade and absent serrations is the central field character.
05
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
LivingGreat white sharkFlat, broad triangular blade with coarse serrations and no lateral cusplets.Compare visual profile →ExtinctCretoxyrhinaLarge smooth-edged triangular lamniform tooth with a substantial bilobed root.Compare visual profile →LivingShortfin makoSlender, smooth-edged crown that often flexes or curves, with no side cusplets.Compare visual profile →
06
DIRECT COMPARISONS
Put it beside its closest rival.
AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE
Open source ↗Paleobiology Database
The visual plate is original TuffShark artwork and is not copied from the reference. Use the source alongside formation age, locality and associated material.
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