Low, broad crushing crown with ridges or bumps instead of a cutting blade.
Species-level identification depends on the ridge pattern and requires a specialist key.
01
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Flat / crushing
- Cutting edge
- Smooth edge
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Wide / nearly flat root
- Reference height
- roughly 5–65 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Time
- Cretaceous
02
WHY IT LOOKS THIS WAY
Form follows feeding.
Ptychodus had pavement-like dental plates for hard prey. Its teeth do not resemble the familiar triangular shark-tooth outline.
03
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
PRIMARY / AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE
Open source ↗Paleobiology Database
Use the source alongside collection locality and geologic age. A photograph alone cannot establish provenance.
HAVE A TOOTH TO CHECK?
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