THE SHARKS

Sand Tiger
Carcharias samhammeri (Cappetta and Case)
aka Odontaspis samhammeri (Leriche)

Age - Cretaceous  Commonality - Less common

The teeth of C. samhammeri have a smooth lingual enamel surface. The crown is somewhat broad for Carcharias with a single cusplet on each shoulder. There is a strong lingual protuberance and obvious nutrient grove on the root. Lateral teeth have inclined crowns and broad triangular cusplets. These teeth reach a maximum length of about 3/4s of an inch and and are the most common of the Cretaceous sand tigers. C. Samhammeri is a rather plain looking tooth which can easily be mistaken for a small or stream worn Goblin.

See the goblin, sand tiger comparison page. 

Three different views of the same tooth.
The broad crown, top left image, is actually very subtle. It is only noticeable when
viewing the tooth head on. The image on the bottom, same tooth, viewed from a
different angle appears to have a much narrower crown.

Monmouth County, NJ  

Like most sand tigers the basal margin of crown follows the
contour of the root
 

An unusually large tooth at 7/8's of an inch. These teeth seem very prone to stream wear, most teeth will have at least one cusplet broken off.

Lateral tooth, triangular cusplets and nutrient groove.
1/4 inch
 

This scan gives a good perspective on tooth size.
Note the similarity to Scapanorhynchus texanus (goblin),
especially the top two teeth.
 

Return to top of page