How to Identify the Teeth of Gulf Sharks

Unlike human teeth, all the teeth in the jaws of a particular species of shark are the same shape. Each tooth in a shark's mouth can differ from the others only in size. This allows for identifying a species of shark from a single tooth relatively easily if you find an undamaged tooth. Sharks constantly replace their teeth throughout their lives, each losing up to 30,000 teeth in a lifetime, which makes the many coastlines of the Gulf of Mexico good places to find shark's teeth.

Things You'll Need

• Container
• Internet access

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Locate a beach that has a good amount of washed-up coral, pebbles and shells at or above the water line. Their presence means the beach sits in an area where the tides and currents bring in Gulf debris including shark's teeth.

   • 2

     Scoop samples of beach debris into your container.

   • 3

     Screen the debris through your hand and fingers to look for shark's teeth.

   • 4

     Look up your tooth specimens in an identification guide to find the types of sharks they come from (see the Resources section for online sources).