Description

Late Miocene

Bone Valley Formation

Polk County, Florida, USA

0.8 inch tooth of a lemon shark.

Negaprion is the genus that includes all lemon sharks, living and extinct, and it dates back to the Middle Eocene of Nigeria though it is perhaps best known as a fossil from the Miocene to Recent of Florida.  It is a common tooth in the Bone Valley Formation though complete teeth are less common.  At least one of the extended root lobes and/or the main cusp is usually snapped off.

Upper teeth bear serrations on the heels while lowers have unserrated heels.  The main cusp always lacks serrations and that helps distinguish them from the very similar teeth of Carcharhinus.