Squalicorax tooth

Sqaulicorax sp.
Age: Cretaceous (68-75 million years ago)
Location: Khourigba, Morocco

Squalicorax is also known as the crow shark.

As the nickname suggests, crow sharks were scavengers, although they were certainly capable of hunting live food when required. They are type of mackrel shark and became extinct at the end of the cretaceous during a mass extinction event which took out 66% of the diversity of life on earth (including all non-avian dinosaurs). Sharks are vertebrates, but their skeletal elements are not made of bone, but cartilage. This means that most parts of ancient sharks do not preserve. Sharks have multiple sets of teeth (called series) which move forward in the mouth like a conveyor belt. This means that sharks are always shedding teeth. In the right conditions teeth preserve very well, so in conditions where you find one fossilised shark tooth, you will be likely to find many. This is true for the Khourigba area in morocco which is a massive phosphate bed. The beds contain millions of shark teeth dating from the Cretaceous through to the Eocene as well as the bones of small animals. Phospahate beds are commercially very important. They are used as fertilisers -- the majority of the teeth from this area are ground up to make fertiliser along with the other phosphitic material.

Average weight 4g. All prices are per item. The photograph is representative of the item offered for sale, but you may not receive the one in the picture