A strongly curved, can-opener profile with a deep outer notch and compound serrations.
Heavy wear can erase the small secondary serrations, but the hooked, notched silhouette usually remains diagnostic.
01
ORIGINAL VISUAL PLATE
Front, edge and jaw position.
02
IDENTIFICATION TRAITS
What to inspect.
- Crown shape
- Deeply notched blade
- Cutting edge
- Coarse serrations or Uneven / mixed serrations
- Side cusplets
- No side cusplets
- Root
- Wide / nearly flat root or Two distinct root lobes
- Reference tooth height
- About 10–40 mm, depending on age and jaw position
- Jaw variation
- Upper and lower teeth share the same deeply notched can-opener design.
03
ECOLOGY + SCALE
The shark behind the tooth.
- Habitat
- Tropical and warm-temperate coasts, reefs, shelves and open water.
- Diet
- Fishes, turtles, rays, seabirds, marine mammals and carrion.
- Estimated shark size
- Usually 3–4.5 m (10–15 ft); the largest verified animals are larger.
- Bite force
- No reliable species-specific value is established; bite force changes with body size and bite point.
- Fossil occurrence
- Galeocerdo teeth are common in Neogene marine deposits.
- Time range
- Living; fossil teeth also occur
04
FUNCTION
Form follows feeding.
Upper and lower teeth share the same unmistakable outline. The rear shoulder is deeply notched and often carries smaller secondary serrations.
05
LOOKALIKES
Do not stop at the first match.
06
DIRECT COMPARISONS
Put it beside its closest rival.
AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE
Open source ↗Florida 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.
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