Slender, smooth-edged crown that often flexes or curves, with no side cusplets.
A single worn tooth may be difficult to separate from extinct makos, threshers and some sand-tiger relatives.
01
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Narrow dagger or Hooked blade
- Cutting edge
- Smooth edge
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Rounded U-shaped root or Two distinct root lobes
- Reference height
- roughly 12–52 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Time
- Living; fossil teeth also occur
02
WHY IT LOOKS THIS WAY
Form follows feeding.
Anterior teeth are long and narrow; lateral teeth become broader and more blade-like. Roots are strongly bilobed.
03
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
ExtinctBroad-toothed makoBroad, flat triangular crown like a white shark—but with completely smooth cutting edges.Compare profile →LivingCommon thresherRelatively small, smooth, compressed blade that becomes oblique in lateral positions.Compare profile →RELATED FORMGoblin sharkUse locality, age and associated teeth to separate this lookalike.
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?
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