SilesianTriassic

Acrodus sp.

Middle Triassic, Lower Muschelkalk (Anisian), Lower Gogolin Beds, Upper Silesia, Poland

The photo shows a complete tooth (crown with root) from a Triassic shark of the genus Acrodus.

At first glance, the specimen shows signs of damage. But in my opinion, that’s what’s most interesting about it! These aren’t traces of modern erosion. These damages occurred before the tooth fossilized – at the bottom of a Triassic sea 240 million years ago! This makes the specimen also interesting from a taphonomic perspective.

This specimen is also important to me because it was the first “true” shark tooth I found and because it’s the largest specimen of the genus Acrodus I have from the Lower Muschelkalk.