These teeth overlap in both broad form and edge treatment. Root proportions, jaw position, size, age and locality must carry more weight than silhouette alone.
Low, broad crushing crown with ridges or bumps instead of a cutting blade.
Pointed front teeth with lateral cusplets grade into broad, flattened molar-like rear teeth.
Flat / crushing
Several cusps / Flat / crushing
Smooth edge
Smooth edge
No side cusplets
One on each side
Wide / nearly flat root
Wide / nearly flat root
5–65 mm reference range
3–18 mm reference range
Low ridged teeth were arranged into broad pavement-like crushing batteries.
Sharp anterior graspers grade into broad posterior crushing teeth.
Cretaceous shallow to offshore marine environments.
Rocky reefs and kelp beds of the eastern Pacific.
Hard-shelled prey such as bivalves and ammonites inferred from crushing dentition.
Sea urchins, crabs, mollusks and small fishes.
Species estimates vary widely; some large forms may have exceeded 7 m (23 ft).
Usually under 1 m (3.3 ft); maximum about 1.2 m.
Not directly measurable.
Laboratory and field studies exist, but values depend strongly on animal size and protocol; no single headline figure is used here.
Cretaceous crushing teeth are widespread and sometimes occur in dental plates.
Heterodontid teeth are common from the Mesozoic onward.
Species-level identification depends on the ridge pattern and requires a specialist key.
Always record jaw position; a front and rear tooth from the same shark can look unrelated.
Illustrations are original TuffShark diagrams, not photographs taken from either reference.
KEEP COMPARING