Known for their strong bite pressure of up to 6,000 pounds per square inch, tiger shark teeth have a special feature that helps them tear through prey like sea turtles. They also use their teeth as a saw to crush and tear clams and the shells of many sea creatures.
Size
Tiger shark teeth are one of the most distinctive features of this large predator. They are short yet notched, making them stand out from other shark species. Their sharp, jagged edges help them crush clams and even shells of many sea turtles.
Tiger Sharks are members of the order Carcharhiniformes, which also contains the hammerhead sharks and small catsharks. These animals have a nictitating membrane over their eyes, two dorsal fins and five gill slits.
They are nocturnal and mostly solitary creatures, coming together only for feeding and mating periods. They live for 12 years on average.
The largest of the sharks, tiger sharks can reach a length of about 5.5 meters (18 feet). They are an apex predator with a vast appetite. They eat marine prey including fish, birds, squid, and other animals.
Although they have long been a popular species for shark collectors, their commercial value has largely disappeared in the past several decades. Today they are only found in souvenir shops or used for their fins by sports fishermen.
Fossil teeth from this species are widely available in Oligocene to Recent marine deposits throughout the world. These include places such as the Calvert Cliffs Site on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Aurora Site in North Carolina.
These teeth are typically accompanied by other fossils such as vertebrae, ear bones and jawbones. These are not as common as the fossil sharks themselves, but they provide valuable information for identifying and learning about these animals.
Another feature of these teeth is that they are more pointed than those of the Great White shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The pointed crown is curved slightly from root to tip, making them easier to identify.
This morphology also helps to explain why they are able to take such large, tough-shelled prey as sea turtles. They don’t have the size, strength and predatory skill of larger sharks like the white shark, but their gnashers are capable of crushing the hard shells of these large, strong-swimming creatures.
The fact that these sharks are able to take such large, tough-shelled creatures is an interesting example of how sharks can adapt their bodies and behavior to their environment. It is also a reminder that the size of a predator does not necessarily indicate its effectiveness.
Shape
The tiger shark’s teeth are triangular in shape with a wide root and tiny serrations. They are incredibly sharp and can even cut paper!
This is a fairly common shark, found almost everywhere on the planet, including tropical and temperate waters. Tiger sharks are known for their ability to swim long distances in a short amount of time and undergo seasonal migrations.
However, this shark is also known for its fierce predatory instincts and indiscriminate predation. Its powerful bite, combined with its highly serrated teeth, is one of the main reasons why this shark is considered to be the most dangerous animal in the ocean.
Unlike other sharks that have rows of teeth in both their upper and lower jaw, tiger sharks only have these rows in the lower jaw. The teeth in the lower jaw are designed to grasp and hold onto prey that may be swimming by the tiger shark, while the upper jaw is used for cutting.
Some extinct sharks have similar teeth to those of the modern tiger shark, such as the Snaggletooth Shark (Hemipristis serra). These teeth have different upper and lower crowns that are both triangular and have coarse serrations on all but the tip, as well as a wide V-shaped dental band or “bourlette” between the upper and lower crowns.
A more robust version of a tiger shark tooth, though still extinct, is the Giant White Shark (Carcharocles megalodon). These teeth are the most massive and strongest in all of the animal kingdom.
Another example is the Physogaleus contortus, which appears in Oligocene deposits. Its crown is twisted, making it an excellent grasping and feeding tool.
The tiger shark’s tooth is composed of a core made of dentine. This is compact and similar to the dentine we find in our human teeth, but it differs from normal tooth enamel because it has oxygen atoms from the water in which the shark lived.
The tooth’s outer layer is made of enameloid hydroxyapatite. It is similar to the enamel that we see in our human teeth, but it has a much longer developmental cycle and contains oxygen atoms from the water it lived in.
Color
Tiger shark teeth are a beautiful addition to any shark lover’s collection. They are often sold at gift shops on beaches as souvenirs, and can be crafted into jewelry or other items. Whether you have a knack for hunting them out or simply scope the beach when on vacation, you can start a collection in no time.
Tigers sharks are a large, predatory species of requiem shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). They are found throughout the world’s temperate and tropical waters, with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea.
These sharks have a distinctive color scheme that resembles a tiger’s pattern, which fades with maturity. This coloring is thought to help the shark blend in with the dark water surrounding it, especially when it’s young and swimming close to shore.
Interestingly, tiger sharks do not bear their young with a placenta; instead, they reproduce aplencentally. This is a more primitive method of reproduction than that of other sharks, although it’s unknown why they choose this type of reproduction.
Fossilized tiger shark teeth can appear in the Eocene and Oligocene deposits. Generally, the teeth of these sharks are smaller and less robust than those of modern tiger sharks with simple serrations.
Some fossilized tiger shark teeth have been found in the Miocene, as well. These teeth, known as Physogaleus contortus, are similar to the modern tiger shark tooth in shape but lack serrations and are typically shorter than the modern tiger shark’s crown.
Many of the fossilized tiger shark teeth are found on Seymour Island, near Antarctica. They are helping scientists understand the climate shift that occurred 50 million years ago.
This was a period in which Earth’s tectonic plates moved, and the temperature of the water changed from warm to cold. It also meant that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which today traps cold waters in the Southern Ocean, grew wider and deeper as it pushed warmer ocean water north into the South Atlantic.
During this time, sand tiger sharks roamed the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. They left their magnificent fossils behind, revealing what the seafloor looked like at that time.
Origin
The tiger shark is one of the world’s largest predators and has been known to eat anything from sea turtles to birds. Its highly serrated teeth are used for cutting and the saw-like motion it takes when moving its head back and forth is used to tear chunks from other animals. It is a highly adaptive animal, moving between temperate and tropical waters throughout the year.
The fossil record of this shark includes a wide variety of species, some of which are extremely rare. These include Galeocerdo latidens, which dates to the Eocene, and G. cuvier, which originated in the early Pliocene.
Although most of the species in the Galeocerdo genus have dignathic heterodonties, which means that both upper and lower jaws are comprised of the same teeth, a few tiger sharks did not possess this feature. In particular, the extinct longtooth tiger shark (Physogaleus contortus) was unusual in that both its upper and lower teeth had a twisted crown and a centrally raised root.
Other tiger sharks that have been discovered in the fossil record include a snaggletooth shark, which is quite unique for its tooth shape. It has the same triangular shape as sand tiger shark teeth, but its crowns have very coarse serrations that are arranged along the edges.
These coarse serrations give this tooth a distinctive look and are what sets it apart from other tiger shark teeth. It also has a more rounded and more pointed mouth than other tiger sharks that have been discovered.
Aside from being a very attractive tooth, this snaggletooth shark also holds a special place in history. It is an ancient shark that lived during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs.
It was a very powerful shark that could reach up to 12 feet in length. It mainly inhabited the tropical oceans, but was able to migrate north to temperate waters as well.
Aside from their ability to eat a large range of creatures, tiger sharks are often considered to be spiritual beings. They were also used for food and weapons by prehistoric peoples.