This tooth is the icon for my podcast and YouTube channel, Elasmocast (https://www.youtube.com/@elasmocast), as well as is on my website, onpointfossils.com, and is very special to me. It is from a large, extinct mackerel shark, Cardabiodon venator, from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas, USA.
My interests in extinct and extant animals developed when I was very little, growing up on the rich assortment of nature and paleontology docuseries that were out at the time. Whether it was dinosaurs, wolves, crocodilians, or sharks, I had a strong obession for acquiring more knowledge of these spectacular organisms. I had my own little library of books and DVDs/VHS tapes that would feed my never-ending addiction of learning about our natural world. It also helped to have supportive parents, who would take my brothers and I to places like the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History, which allowed me to stare face-to-face with the awe-inspiring creatures of the past and present, forever imprinting a sense of wonder for the history of life on Earth.
I collected shark teeth (just by purchasing as I lived far away from any shark tooth-bearing localities) throughout elementary school and middle school. At some point during middle school, I lost most of my interest in both collecting, and in the natural world in general, probably because I wanted to "fit in" with everyone else. Other people I associated with weren't interested in "nerdy" stuff like paleontology or marine biology, though in hindsight this may have also been because of their desire to fit in; a vicious circle. This continued until the latter part of high school, where I started rekindling my interest in fossil shark teeth. I stopped caring so much about other's opinions of me, and started embracing my passions like I did when I was young. In August of 2018, the summer going into my senior year of high school, I created social media pages for my newly minted business venture: On Point Fossils. From there, I started networking with others that shared my passion for fossils, and realized I wasn't alone in this love for paleontology. I developed friendships at this time that I still hold dearly today.
When I started this business, most of my stock was comprised of teeth in my personal collection from my elementary and middle school years. While it was a decent collection for my age, there wasn't much that I would deem as true "rarities". I loved C. megalodon as a kid, but obviously had budgetary constraints at that time which limited me to smaller and/or lower quality specimens. Most of my collection consisted of smaller species that, while some may have been uncommon, weren't "showcase" material.
One shark that particularly struck me was the genus Cardabiodon. I loved the mackerel shark tooth morphology that can be found with staple shark teeth like Otodus obliquus, but, being an abundant shark fossil from the phosphate mines of Morocco, it wasn't something that really excited me; it wasn't "exotic" enough. Most of my collection was Cenozoic material, and I was particularly fascinated by the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous period, home to some of the most famous extinct animals of all time, such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, seemed like a much more "elusive", ancient world to me, and the shark faunas were littered with that mackerel shark tooth design I loved. Scouring through the Oceans of Kansas website, I had grown a deep appreciation for the preservation and quality of what can be found within the states that were once covered by an ancient sea, known as the Western Interior Seaway, which divided North America in two at the time of its maximum-most expansion. On Oceans of Kansas, Cardabiodon stood out to me, with a deeply pronounced dental band ("bourlette"), a crown morphology not too dissimilar from Otodus obliquus, and that gorgeous Kansas preservation. How could a tooth so similar to Otodus obliquus be around in the Cretaceous? This conundrum caused me to deep-dive into literature about this spectacular genus of ancient shark. Cardabiodon used to be hypothesized to have been related to the Cenozoic genus Parotodus. The time gap between the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous (the youngest described occurrence of Cardabiodon), all the way to the Eocene (the oldest shark teeth attributed to Parotodus are known from), made me question this hypothesis. This was the tipping point that got me into reading peer-reviewed scientific literature; without digging as deeply into Cardabiodon as I did, who knows if I would have focused as keenly on the scientific aspects of shark teeth, or even biology as a whole, rather than just using superficial knowledge I have gained here and there from experience?
Now, it was time to acquire a tooth. I asked and asked and asked; it turned out to be quite a challenge to obtain my Cardabiodon tooth. Cardabiodon was a large lamniform shark from the Cretaceous period, and had a wide distribution, but their teeth are surprisingly rare. I wound up coming across a cardabiodontid tooth from Russia, but it didn't scratch the itch; it didn't have that Western Interior Seaway preservation I sought after, Then, after posting that Russian tooth on a Facebook group, a collector in Kansas commented on it with a picture of the tooth you see here, asking if it was from the same shark..
There it was: my holy grail tooth. It has all of the characteristics I was looking for: the gorgeous dental band, the shiny, light chocolate-brown enameloid, the quality: everything.
I had to get it. After a lengthy negotiation process, we agreed upon a trade for this tooth, plus a small assortment of other Kansas shark teeth.
This tooth not only replanted my interest for the science of Paleontology, but has since set me on my quest to obtain the oddball, rare specimens that are seldom seen to collectors. On my website, onpointfossils.com, you will see some teeth from species you may have never seen before; most of which were aqcuired from lots of patience and network-building, paired with developing an eye for seeking the rarities of the fossil shark tooth realm. While this Cardabiodon tooth may not be the rarest tooth I own, it surely sprung me on a path to specialize in obscure sharks and their relatives. Obtaining this tooth taught me lessons on finding the gems that are often overlooked or seldom heard of. So, for that, I am immensely proud of owning this specimen, and I don't know if I'd be where I am now if it wasn't for the pursuit of it.
Best Regards,
Ben
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