Hemipristis serra
Miocene
South Carolina, USA

Excellent 0.6 inch shark tooth.

Hemipristis is a shark genus that dates back to the Middle-Late Eocene and still lives today.  Collectors call it the “snaggletooth” shark because its teeth have unusually-coarse serrations.  Hemipristis includes a few extinct species (like this specimen) and the modern Red Sea shark, H. elongatus, which lives only in the warmer parts of the Indian Ocean.

Hemipristis once ranged all over the world (sites in California, Maryland, France, Peru) when climates were warmer.