Finding or owning a fossil shark tooth is exciting. But once you have one in your hand, the next question usually comes pretty quickly:
What kind of shark did this tooth come from?
Shark tooth identification can seem complicated at first. There are hundreds of shark species, teeth can vary depending on where they were positioned in the shark’s mouth, and fossil teeth are often worn or incomplete.
But you don’t need to be a paleontologist to start narrowing things down.
A few basic features — including the tooth’s shape, serrations, root and overall size — can tell you quite a bit.
Here’s what to look for.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth
First: Is It Actually a Shark Tooth?
Before trying to identify the species, make sure you’re actually looking at a shark tooth.
A typical shark tooth has two primary sections:
- Crown: The visible cutting or gripping portion of the tooth.
- Root: The broader base that once anchored the tooth within the shark’s jaw tissue.
Unlike mammals, sharks don’t have teeth permanently anchored into their jaws. They continually produce and replace teeth throughout their lives.
That’s one reason shark teeth are so abundant in the fossil record.
A single shark can lose thousands of teeth during its lifetime.
What Does a Fossil Shark Tooth Look Like?
Fossil shark teeth can be black, gray, brown, tan, reddish or even bluish depending on the minerals present in the sediment where they fossilized.
That means color alone does not tell you the species or age of a shark tooth.
The dark color commonly associated with fossil shark teeth comes from mineralization during the fossilization process.
Modern shark teeth are generally much lighter, often white or cream colored.
Step 1: Look at the Overall Shape
One of the easiest places to begin identification is the shape of the crown.
Ask yourself:
Is the tooth broad and triangular or long and narrow?
Broad triangular teeth were generally designed for cutting through large prey.
Long, narrow teeth were better suited for grabbing and holding slippery prey such as fish.
For example, great white and megalodon teeth tend to have broad triangular crowns.
Sand tiger shark teeth, by comparison, are typically much longer and narrower.
The overall silhouette can quickly eliminate a number of possibilities.
Step 2: Look for Serrations
Next, examine the cutting edges of the tooth.
Do you see tiny saw-like serrations?
Serrations are one of the most useful shark tooth identification features.
Megalodon Teeth
Megalodon teeth generally have:
- Broad triangular crowns
- Fine serrations along the cutting edges
- Thick, substantial roots
- A distinctive area between the root and crown called the bourlette
- Potentially very large overall size
Megalodon (Otodus megalodon) is one of the most famous prehistoric sharks ever discovered.
The largest megalodon teeth can exceed 7 inches, although teeth of that size are extremely rare. Smaller teeth are much more commonly available to collectors.
Great White Shark Teeth
Great white shark teeth are also triangular and serrated, which can occasionally cause confusion for beginning collectors.
Great white teeth generally have:
- Broad triangular crowns
- Coarse serrations
- A relatively flat appearance compared with the heavier construction of many megalodon teeth
- No pronounced bourlette like that commonly seen on megalodon teeth
Size can help, but it shouldn’t be your only identification method.
Mako Shark Teeth
Fossil mako-type teeth are typically long, pointed and narrow.
Many have smooth cutting edges rather than serrations.
Their shape reflects their function: grabbing fast-moving prey.
If you have a long, relatively slender fossil tooth without serrations, a mako-type shark is one possibility worth investigating.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth
Tiger Shark Teeth
Tiger shark teeth look dramatically different from the classic triangular shark tooth many people imagine.
They often feature:
- A strongly curved crown
- Pronounced serrations
- A distinctive notch
- A broad cutting surface
Once you’ve seen several examples, tiger shark teeth can become relatively easy to recognize.
Their unusual shape is designed for cutting through a wide variety of prey.
Bull Shark Teeth
Bull shark teeth can be broad and triangular with serrated cutting edges.
Upper and lower teeth can differ significantly.
Upper teeth tend to be broader and better suited for cutting, while lower teeth can be narrower.
This brings up an important part of shark tooth identification:
Not every tooth in a shark’s mouth looks the same.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth
Step 3: Examine the Root
Beginners naturally focus on the crown, but the root can provide important clues.
Look at:
- Overall root width
- Shape of the root lobes
- Depth of the notch between the lobes
- Thickness
- Symmetry
Some shark species have very distinctive root structures.
Unfortunately, the root is also one of the portions most likely to be damaged after fossilization.
A broken root doesn’t make a shark tooth worthless or uninteresting. It simply removes one of the clues you might otherwise use for identification.
Step 4: Check the Size — But Don’t Depend on It
Size can help identify a shark tooth, but it’s easy for beginners to put too much emphasis on it.
Not every megalodon tooth is enormous.
And not every large shark tooth belonged to a megalodon.
Sharks produced different-sized teeth depending on their age, species and the tooth’s position within the jaw.
A juvenile shark naturally produced smaller teeth than a massive adult.
So think of size as one clue among several, not definitive proof.
Step 5: Look at the Tooth Position
This is where shark tooth identification becomes especially interesting.
Sharks can have different tooth shapes within the same mouth.
Teeth near the center of the jaw may look different from teeth farther toward the corners.
Upper teeth may also look significantly different from lower teeth.
That’s because individual teeth can perform different jobs.
Some are designed primarily for cutting.
Others help grab and hold prey.
This variation is one reason you may find two teeth from the same shark species that don’t look identical.
How Can You Tell If a Shark Tooth Is Fossilized?
One of the most common questions from new collectors is whether a shark tooth is modern or fossilized.
Fossilization occurs when minerals gradually replace or fill the original material over extremely long periods.
The result is usually a tooth that feels more like stone than a modern tooth.
Color can provide a clue, but again, it isn’t definitive.
Fossil teeth commonly appear:
- Black
- Gray
- Brown
- Tan
- Rust colored
- Blue-gray
The exact color is influenced by the minerals and sediment surrounding the tooth during fossilization.
That’s why fossil shark teeth from different locations can have dramatically different appearances.
How Old Are Fossil Shark Teeth?
There isn’t one answer.
Fossil shark teeth available to collectors can range from a few million years old to tens of millions of years old.
The geological formation and location where the tooth was discovered are critical when determining age.
For example, megalodon lived approximately 23 million to 3.6 million years ago.
That means every genuine megalodon tooth represents an animal that lived millions of years before modern humans existed.
That’s part of what makes holding one so fascinating.
You’re not simply holding a tooth.
You’re holding a piece of natural history.
Where Are Fossil Shark Teeth Found?
Fossil shark teeth are found in many parts of the world.
In the United States, well-known shark tooth hunting areas include parts of:
- Florida
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Maryland
- Virginia
Beaches, rivers, creeks, quarries and exposed fossil-bearing formations can all produce shark teeth under the right geological conditions.
Some locations are famous for particular species or fossil deposits.
Florida’s Bone Valley
One name you’ll frequently encounter when shopping for fossil shark teeth is Bone Valley.
Bone Valley is a fossil-rich region of central Florida known for producing beautifully colored shark teeth and other fossils.
The area’s unique geology can produce teeth with attractive shades of blue, gray, tan, cream, orange and other colors.
Bone Valley specimens can be particularly desirable among collectors because of their coloration and preservation.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth
How Do You Know If a Shark Tooth Is Real?
When purchasing fossil shark teeth, look for natural characteristics.
Real fossil teeth commonly show:
- Natural wear
- Slight imperfections
- Mineral coloration
- Small chips or cracks
- Differences from one specimen to another
Ironically, a tooth that looks absolutely perfect deserves a closer examination.
High-quality natural teeth certainly exist, but fossils have spent millions of years underground, underwater or moving through sediment.
Wear is normal.
Repairs and restoration are also common within the fossil market, particularly with large and expensive specimens. Restoration doesn’t necessarily mean a fossil isn’t genuine, but reputable sellers should disclose significant repairs or restoration when known.
Are Fossil Shark Teeth Rare?
It depends on the tooth.
Sharks continually shed teeth, which means some fossil shark teeth are relatively common.
Others can be considerably harder to find.
Value and rarity can depend on:
- Species
- Size
- Condition
- Color
- Serration quality
- Root preservation
- Location
- Geological formation
- Rarity of the species
A small common shark tooth may be inexpensive.
A large, exceptionally preserved tooth from a desirable species can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
That’s one of the things that makes fossil shark tooth collecting accessible.
You don’t need an expensive specimen to start collecting.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth
Start With the Big Four Questions
If you’re holding an unidentified shark tooth, start with four simple questions:
1. What is the overall shape?
Broad and triangular? Long and narrow? Curved?
2. Does it have serrations?
Look carefully along both cutting edges.
3. What does the root look like?
Is it broad, narrow, symmetrical or deeply notched?
4. How large is it?
Measure the entire tooth from the tip of the crown to the bottom of the root.
Those four observations will often get you surprisingly close.
Then compare your tooth with properly identified specimens from the same region where yours was discovered.
You Don’t Need to Be an Expert to Collect Shark Teeth
Part of the fun of collecting fossils is learning as you go.
Your first shark tooth might simply look like a cool fossil.
Then you learn to recognize serrations.
You start noticing differences in roots.
You learn why one tooth is shaped differently from another.
Eventually, you can look at certain teeth and immediately recognize the likely shark.
That’s when a collection starts becoming more than a group of interesting objects.
Each tooth represents a particular animal, from a particular period in Earth’s history, adapted to hunt and survive in a particular way.
Some came from sharks very similar to species swimming in our oceans today.
Others came from enormous predators that disappeared millions of years ago.
And you can hold that history in your hand.
Explore Real Fossil Shark Teeth
At Turnmeyers, we love pieces that have a story behind them, and few things have a story quite like a genuine fossil shark tooth.
Our selection changes as we find new specimens, so you may see everything from affordable teeth for beginning collectors to larger and more distinctive specimens.
Every fossil is different.
And that’s exactly what makes collecting them fun.
Shop Our Real Fossil Shark Teeth