fossil

Fossilized Shark Tooth (Fragment)

Elasmobranchii gen. indet.

Hardness: 5 on Mohs scale (apatite composition). Color: Dark gray to black due to mineral permineralization, with shiny enameloid surface showing distinctive striations. Luster: Sub-vitreous to pearly enamel. Structure: Dense, calcified organic structure.

Hardness: 5 on Mohs scale (apatite composition)
Luster: Sub-vitreous to pearly enamel

Identified July 23, 2026More fossil →

Explore Fossilized Shark Tooth (Fragment) in the encyclopedia →

Identify your own rocks.

Get a report just like this from any photo, free.

App Store Google Play

Physical properties

Formation & geological history

Formed when a shark tooth shed or from a deceased shark settled in marine sediment and underwent permineralization over millions of years (typically Eocene to Miocene epochs, ~5 to 50 million years old). Silica, iron, and phosphate minerals replaced organic matter.

Uses & applications

Popular as educational specimens, collector's items, and used in wire-wrapped jewelry or crafts.

Geological facts

Sharks shed thousands of teeth in their lifetimes. Black teeth indicate permineralization in anoxic, sediment-rich marine environments where iron sulfide and phosphate replaced the original tooth material.

Field identification & locations

Can be identified by the smooth, reflective enameloid surface paired with fibrous or porous root structure (or tooth fragment cross-section). Commonly found along coastal beaches and riverbeds in Florida, North and South Carolina, and Maryland.

Other fossil specimens

See all

Crinoid Stem Fossil in Matrix

Phylum Echinodermata, Class Crinoidea

fossil

Sedimentary Outcrop (Sandstone/Shale)

Sedimentary bedrock formation (variable composition)

sedimentary

Chert with Fossil Brachiopod

Microcrystalline Quartz (SiO2) with Calcitic Brachiopod inclusion

sedimentary

Fossiliferous Limestone

Fossiliferous Calcilutite / Biomicrite

sedimentary

Fossiliferous Limestone

Biogenic Limestone with Brachiopod/Crinoid fragments

sedimentary

Fossilized Crinoid Stem in Limestone

Crinoidea (Class) in Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) matrix

fossil