Carcharodon (Isurus) hastalis

This catalog contains exceptional upper jaw teeth from the king of the Makos - Isurus hastalis, the Big-tooth Mako shark which is the precursor to the great White shark. The Sharktooth Hill site produces extraordinary Isurus (Carcharodon) hastalis teeth. We are offering some the largest and highest quality teeth available with excellent color and preservation. Check out the size. Check out the colors!  Excellent teeth from the Sharktooth Hill area. These are the highest quality teeth from my old inventory!

This catalog contains quality large teeth from the Big-tooth or Broad-tooth “Mako” shark are noted for their wide, unserrrated triangular crowns and large  rectangular roots. These teeth exhibit tan, blue, brown or red colored crowns with tan to brown roots. They are very showy, making them an excellent addition to your Mako shark tooth collection. These are top quality Mako teeth from Sharktooth Hill. No repair in this group! There are Miocene age, Round Mountain Silt Formation teeth from Bakersfield, CA.  Note - South of the Kern River produces the colorful teeth and north of the Kern River (includes Sharktooth Hill) produces the large teeth.

What’s in a name? For the fifty years, Isurus hastalis was known to me and others as the big Mako shark tooth that collectors sought from Miocene – Pliocene deposits. Everyone wanted to find a big Mako tooth. In 2001, Purdy (Smithsonsian) resurrected Isurus xiphodon for the broad-form Mako teeth at Lee Creek. It made sense, but now it is not considered a valid species. In 1964, Glikman proposed the Cosmopolitodus genus for the "hastalis" shark as Isurus hastalis was related to the Great White shark rather than the Mako. This convention was not adopted in the scientific community until the last decade; particularly with the naming of the Carcharodon hubbelli, the Great White transition tooth (late Miocene). There is also a push to rename the shark formerly known as Isurus hastalis to Carcharodon hastalis recognizing that it is an early form of the Great White shark. Ok, Isurus hastalis and Isurus xiphodon names going away, but the future genus name for "hastlis" appears to be unsettled. What do we call this shark if it is not a Mako? Lets go with Carcharodon or Hastalis...