Collection: Sharks & Rays

Sharks and rays (stingrays, sawfish, and guitarfish) are a group of fish with skeletons made of cartilage. These animals are among the oldest and most successful vertebrates in earth's history, originating 430 million years ago and surviving and thriving after the many huge mass extinctions since. Cartilage is a more flexible material than bone that decomposes much more easily. This makes finding skeletal remains of these animals extraordinarily rare. Their teeth on the other hand are much more durable. Sharks and rays produce thousands of teeth in their life time shedding and replacing them. Rays typically have small flat teeth for crushing shellfish. Sharks on the other hand have a huge variety of teeth that vary from species to species across time! Shark teeth are popular fossils to collect being relatively easy to find, handle, and identify and can range in value from pennies to thousands of dollars depending on the species, quality, and size. Whether for a small paleontologist starting their journey, or an experienced collector with way more fossils than any sane person should have there is a shark tooth that fits their collection and budget!