Description

Squalus occidentalis
Shark
Middle Miocene
Round Mountain Silt, Sharktooth Hill Bonebed
Bakersfield, Kern county, California, USA

Unusual 0.25” dogfish tooth.

Squalus is a genus of dogfishes that includes several extinct and modern species.  It dates back to the Late Cretaceous.  “Dogfish” is an informal name of many sharks in the Order Squaliformes, groups that frequent deeper waters off continental shelves.

The species, S. occidentalis, is known from the Early to Late Miocene of California, the Middle Miocene of Mexico and Japan and the Late Miocene of Washington.