Fossil prep: fossil hunter discovers rare shark tooth hidden inside a rock

I brought this concretion back as it looked really promising and I thought it had what looked to be a bit of bone sticking out of it. I covered the piece of “bone” in paraloid B72 and then left it overnight in some vinegar to see if anything else is exposed.

After 24 hours, I didn’t see much so else exposed but it did show a crack in the rock. I a small chisel to wedge it open and saw what I thought was a piece of tooth enamel further inside the rock. I glued it back together and then started to prep it.

A combination of air scribes were used from a variety of manufacturers. The last one I used is for very delicate work which I did by looking through a stereo microscope at 6x zoom.

I suspect the tooth is from a Cookie cutter shark (Isistius) or another similar one from the Dalatiidae family.

It’s probably late Miocene or younger at this location.

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The cookie cutter shark picture I used is from the NOAA Photo Library on Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/noaaphotolib/39389672365

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