1.5" Fossil Mako Shark Tooth - Bakersfield, CA

Here is a fossil Mako tooth (Isurus) found at Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield, CA. These teeth have beautiful coloration which is quite distinct to the location. Quite impressive for a tooth that is 15.5 million years old. This tooth was mounted in sandstone from the same location that it was found.

This tooth has been remounted to the sandstone.

The exact classification of these teeth has been hotly debated for several decades. Historically, these teeth have been classified as a mako shark (Isurus planus or Cosmopolitodus planus) but more recent research has suggested they fall into the white shark lineage (Carcharodon planus), You can read more about this here.

Sharktooth Hill is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Bakersfield, California. It represents an exposure of the Temblor Formation, a middle-Miocene marine deposit. 15 million years ago the sea levels were substantially higher, and central California was covered by what is known as the Temblor Sea.



Two highly fossiliferous bone beds in the formation were created when fossils originally deposited at the bottom of the sea eroded out of the rocks, were concentrated by ocean currents, and subsequently reburied. Because the fossils in these bone beds are reworked, only isolated teeth and bones are found in these beds.

Today, the original Sharktooth Hill is a National Natural Landmark, but private property surrounding it contains operational pay-to-dig fossil quarries.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Carcharodon (Isurus) planus
LOCATION
Sharktooth Hill, Bakersfield, CA
FORMATION
Temblor Formation
SIZE
1.5" long
ITEM
#223706
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