1" Fossil Mako Shark Tooth On Sandstone - Bakersfield, CA

Fossil Mako Shark Tooth On Sandstone - Bakersfield, CA #144466

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.

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.

There are two highly fossiliferous bone beds in the formation that 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 there is private property surrounding it on which there are operational pay-to-dig fossil quarries.