Shark Teeth - A guide to “sharp” collecting
It is impossible to think of sharks without thinking of Jaws. That movie has been around for most of my life and I still enjoy watching it when it’s on television. Jaws sparked an innate fear in all of us, as I’m sure many of us have thought of it when we go to the beach and get into the water, especially in tropical locales. The thought of those razor sharp shark teeth can scare the living daylights out of anyone.
Sharks have several rows of shark teeth and lose and grow new ones all the time. The front set is the largest and does most of the work. Sharks may have up to 3,000 at one time. This may be one reason why it’s common to find them in the water and along the shore. Most sharks don’t chew the food, they just gulp it down in large pieces.
Many people collect shark teeth. I’ve even seen people make necklaces and other jewelry out of them. If you have a fascination with sharks and are starting a collection, here is some general information to get you started.
You will notice that not all shark teeth look the same. Some are thin and pointy, others are triangular. Some are symmetrical, some are not. Some have smooth edges, some are jagged. After you have found pretty many, try to separate them into groups that look similar. As you collect more and more, you will start to notice differences within groups, and you will be able to make a finer distinction between tooth shapes. Some sharks have a different type of tooth in their upper and lower jaws. Some have a different type of tooth in the front than they do on the side or the back of the jaws.
Sharks that have sets of triangular, razor sharp shark teeth include tiger sharks, great whites, and hammerheads. If you look at a tooth from all of these they appear very similar; however, the tiger shark’s are more curved than the others.
Mako sharks have long, thin, pointy shark teeth that are helpful in killing slippery fish. Whale shark’s are tiny and don’t really do much of anything. Angel sharks also have tiny shark teeth, but theirs are enclosed in a trap-like jaw.
For more information about sharks and shark teeth, do research online on the Discovery Channel and Animal planet websites. You can also research websites for tooth and tooth fossil collectors for more information.