Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 2

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 2

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

Up untill now I have only been able to identify one shark species, because the teeth are so characteristic. The teeth (seen in the picture below) belong to the species the Broadnose Sevengill Shark or Notorynchus cepedianus.

The Broadnose Sevengill Shark belongs to the family of Cow Sharks or Hexanchidae, which are considered the most primitive of sharks.

I actually just recently watched a documentary covering Broadnose Sevengill Sharks with Forrest Galante. It was called 'Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds', it was from Sharkweek 2023 and it was really good!

I also have two different teeth which I am having a lot more difficulties with identifying (see the two pictures below). If anyone has any clue of which species these teeth may belong to, please let me know:)

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 1

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

I am fairly sure that the teeth (seen in the two pictures below) belong to the family Lamnidae and are from the species Cosmopolitodus hastalis.

If these teeth are in fact the teeth of Cosmopolitodus hastalis they ought to date back to the Miocene and Pliocene (which are the two epochs of the Neogene). Although the species was still alive during the Pleistocene, fossils found of Cosmopolitodus hastalis in Cadzand (in the Netherlands) date back to the Miocene and Pliocene.

One of the shark teeth (the left picture below) gifted to me is so severely eroded that I cannot visually identify it, however it is still a gorgeous fossil.

Between the various shark teeth I also found what I suspect to be a part of a fossilised chela (claw/pincer of a crab) (seen in the right picture below). Considering the location of the find I think it might be from Carcinus maenas and could date back to the Pliocene.

Spooky Fungi

I put all of the links to the images in the image description:)

If anyone wants me to make a more elaborate post on one or more of these species, just leave a comment or an ask:))

CW: if you do not like pictures of bugs, do not scroll further than the heading "Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps".

Devils's fingers - Clathrus archeri

Dead man's fingers - Xylaria polymorpha

Witches' butter - Tremella mesenterica

Black witches' butter - Exidia glandulosa

Devil's tooth fungus - Hydnellum peckii

Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

Purple jellydisc fungus - Ascocoryne sarcoides

Bleeding fairy helmet - Mycena haematopus

Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps

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Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

@flamingears

@lameotello

@lovelyalicorn

@writingraccoon

@edukincon

@emmakapla

A NEW SPECIES OF GHOST SHARK JUST DROPPED!!! AAAAAAAAAA

LOOK AT IT!!! AAAAAAA!!! IT'S CALLED HARIOTTA AVIA!!! IT'S SO PRETTY AND COOL!!!

Dr. Brit Finucci, who discovered this species, said :

“Harriotta avia is unique due to its elongated, narrow and depressed snout; long, slender trunk; large eyes; and very long, broad pectoral fins. It is a lovely chocolate brown colour."

and

“Ghost sharks like this one are largely confined to the ocean floor, living in depths of up to 2,600m. Their habitat makes them hard to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know a lot about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting."

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Note: despite the common name, ghost sharks aren't actually sharks, they are chimaeras. They are a group of cartilaginous fish closely related to sharks and rays.

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You can read more about Harriotta avia here:

NIWA

New species of NZ ghost shark discovered

Scientists have found a new ghost shark that lives exclusively in the deep waters of Australia and New Zealand. 

And here:

CNN

New species of ghost shark discovered by New Zealand scientists | CNN

Scientists have discovered a new species of ghost shark that lives in deep ocean waters near Australia and New Zealand.

I painted a plant pot today! It was awesome!

The beetles were based on pine chafers a.k.a. Polyohylla fullo, but because of the colours and the vertical stripes on the wings they don't really look like them.

Below a photograph of a pine chafer I made some time ago:)

Tiger sharks . . .

My favourite trash compactors ♡

But on a more serious note . . . all of the trash polluting the oceans is horrible.