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.
Long, slender smooth-edged cusp with a small cusplet on each side and a two-lobed root.
Tall, narrow, smooth-edged teeth with longitudinal grooves; front teeth are especially slender and fang-like.
Narrow dagger
Narrow dagger
Smooth edge
Smooth edge
One on each side
No side cusplets / One on each side
Two distinct root lobes / Rounded U-shaped root
Two distinct root lobes / Rounded U-shaped root
12–48 mm reference range
8–35 mm reference range
Tall anterior fangs grade into shorter lateral teeth; paired cusplets are common.
Tall anterior fangs become shorter and broader toward the rear.
Temperate and subtropical coastal waters, reefs and wrecks.
Deep continental slopes and submarine canyons worldwide.
Bony fishes, small sharks, rays, squid and crustaceans.
Deepwater fishes, squid and crustaceans captured with protrusible jaws.
Usually 2–3 m (6.5–10 ft).
Most known animals are 2.5–4 m (8–13 ft); larger reports exist.
No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
Sand-tiger-like teeth are abundant from the Paleogene onward; species assignment is difficult.
The living species is rare, but mitsukurinid relatives have a long fossil record.
Many extinct sand-tiger relatives look extremely similar and are difficult to separate without age and locality.
Sand-tiger and fossil mitsukurinid teeth can be extremely similar; locality and geologic age often decide the identification.
Illustrations are original TuffShark diagrams, not photographs taken from either reference.
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