The Goblin Shark
Scapanorhynchus texanus (Roemer)

Age - Cretaceous  Commonality - Abundant

  Widespread in North America during the late Cretaceous the teeth of Scapanorhynchus texanus  are commonly found teeth in New Jersey.  There is a marked difference in appearance between the anterior and lateral teeth, the anterior teeth have a long slender crown marked with strong to coarse striations. (sometimes referred to as folds). The roots have a pronounced lingual protuberance and a deep nutrient grove. The lateral teeth are more blade like and the root compressed with a reduced lingual protuberance and nutrient groove. The cusplets on anterior teeth may or may not be present, when present are usually reduced in nature. On lateral teeth the cusplets have a triangular shape and there may be a smaller secondary set of cusplets. The teeth range in size from 3/4 to 2 inches in length.
 

2 Anterior, 2 Lateral and one posterior tooth of the goblin shark.
 A  nutrient grove is one of the main characteristics of all goblin teeth.
Scale 1 inch
Monmouth County, NJ.
 

Upper anterior S. texanus
 

Anterior

Note how the striations extent from the crown into the root, this is
 a distinct characteristic of S. texanus, but very prone to stream wear.
 

Lingual view of S. texanus lateral teeth.
The lateral teeth are more blade like and the root more compressed
 with a reduced lingual protuberance and nutrient groove. The coarse striations
associated with the anterior teeth are either greatly diminished or absent.
Cusplets are variable but tend to be triangular and may be present in multiples.
Monmouth County, NJ

On laterals look for faint striations near the neck of the crown and on the root.
 Not all teeth exhibited theses these characteristics or they may have been worn
 off by stream wear. 

 

I normally use some of my best specimens as examples in this website, whenever possible
I also include pictures of typical stream finds. These are a little beat up but still identifiable as
S. texanus. I only keep a small percentage of what I collect, the rest I'll leave for the next person or
save to give away to families or kids I encounter in the streams.
 

Scapanorhynchus texanus riker mount.
 

Some of my nicer teeth
 

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