Fossil fish
Framed shark tooth
A medium-sized fossil shark tooth with warm-toned enamel and crisp lateral cusplets.
120 000 ₽ · In stock
- Size
- 4.5–5.5 cm
- Classification
- Fossil shark, species undetermined
- Habitat
- Shallow seas of the distant past
- Ref.
- R–0652
The triangular crown is slightly elongated and tapers smoothly to its apex. The smooth enamel retains a pale orange-pink hue. Small lateral cusplets are visible at the base of the crown, while the broad, flat root gives the tooth a steady silhouette.
The cartilage that formed a shark's skeleton almost never survives, but the teeth, sheathed in hard enamel, endure. The rows of teeth were constantly renewed, and over its lifetime a shark shed them by the thousands. The shape of the crown speaks of how it hunted, while the colour of the tooth speaks of the rock: it was stained by minerals as it lay in the ground.
At four and a half to five and a half centimetres, it is in proportion to the palm of a hand, yet on the wall the tooth reads with confidence and without excess. This size suits a study or a wall beside books.
In life
In a warm coastal sea, the shark circled unhurriedly near the shallows, where fish gathered and the water was clear all the way to the bottom.