by: Laurie Neilsen In honor of The Discovery Channel’s Shark
Week, here are some common questions asked about shark teeth,
and some meaty facts to sink your teeth into. Q. Why are some
shark teeth black and others are tan? A. The color of a fossil
shark tooth is dependent upon the sediment in which it settled.
As minerals slowly replace the calcium in the tooth, it changes
to the color of the minerals. Color does not necessarily
indicate age in a shark tooth fossil. It usually indicates the
region from which the tooth was collected. Our fossilized shark
teeth are collected from Morocco. Q. Then how old are these
fossil shark teeth? A..It’s hard to say. A shark tooth takes
approximately 10,000 years to become a true fossil. These teeth
could be as much as a few million years old! Q. Why are there
only fossils of shark teeth and vertebrae, but not their other
bones? A. A shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage. This makes
the shark flexible and fast, and provides buoyancy, precluding
the need for a swim bladder l