TOOTH PROFILE / LIVING

Goblin sharktooth identification

Tall, narrow, smooth-edged teeth with longitudinal grooves; front teeth are especially slender and fang-like.

LivingMitsukurina owstoniLiving; fossil relatives extend into the Cretaceous
FIELD VERDICT

Tall, narrow, smooth-edged teeth with longitudinal grooves; front teeth are especially slender and fang-like.

Sand-tiger and fossil mitsukurinid teeth can be extremely similar; locality and geologic age often decide the identification.

01

ORIGINAL VISUAL PLATE

Front, edge and jaw position.

FRONT / LABIAL VIEWEDGE / PROFILESMOOTH EDGEPOSITION CHANGES SHAPE● ANTERIOR● LATERALTUFFSHARK ORIGINAL TOOTH PLATEDIAGRAMMATIC · NOT TO SCALE
Original TuffShark vector illustration. Trait emphasis is diagrammatic; it is not a specimen photograph or a substitute for an associated jaw.
02

IDENTIFICATION TRAITS

What to inspect.

Crown shape
Narrow dagger
Cutting edge
Smooth edge
Side cusplets
No side cusplets or One on each side
Root
Two distinct root lobes or Rounded U-shaped root
Reference tooth height
About 8–35 mm, depending on age and jaw position
Jaw variation
Tall anterior fangs become shorter and broader toward the rear.
03

ECOLOGY + SCALE

The shark behind the tooth.

Habitat
Deep continental slopes and submarine canyons worldwide.
Diet
Deepwater fishes, squid and crustaceans captured with protrusible jaws.
Estimated shark size
Most known animals are 2.5–4 m (8–13 ft); larger reports exist.
Bite force
No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
Fossil occurrence
The living species is rare, but mitsukurinid relatives have a long fossil record.
Time range
Living; fossil relatives extend into the Cretaceous
04

FUNCTION

Form follows feeding.

Anterior teeth grip soft prey, while posterior teeth are shorter and broader. Small basal cusplets may occur and tooth position changes the silhouette.

05

LOOKALIKES

Do not stop at the first match.

LivingSand tiger sharkLong, slender smooth-edged cusp with a small cusplet on each side and a two-lobed 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.

TOOTH VS TOOTHSand tiger shark versus Goblin sharkOpen comparison →
AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE

Australian Museum

The visual plate is original TuffShark artwork and is not copied from the reference. Use the source alongside formation age, locality and associated material.

Open source ↗
HAVE A TOOTH TO CHECK?

Put these traits into the identification flow.

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