Lower teeth form a comb with one tall cusp and a row of progressively smaller cusps.
Identify a comb-like tooth to cow sharks first; exact species may still depend on locality and cusp count.
01
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Comb-like or Several cusps
- Cutting edge
- Smooth edge or Uneven / mixed serrations
- Side cusplets
- Several smaller cusps
- Root
- Wide / nearly flat root
- Reference height
- roughly 8–30 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Time
- Living; fossil relatives occur
02
WHY IT LOOKS THIS WAY
Form follows feeding.
Upper teeth are narrower and pointed, but the distinctive multi-cusped lower teeth are the strongest field clue.
03
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
PRIMARY / AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE
Open source ↗Florida Museum
Use the source alongside collection locality and geologic age. A photograph alone cannot establish provenance.
HAVE A TOOTH TO CHECK?
Start a ranked identification →