Types of tooth sets in the fossil record of sharks, and comments on reconstructing dentitions of extinct sharks (original) (raw)

Reconstructing shark dentitions, using one or more sets of fossil teeth, has become a recent trend in shark paleontology. If a tooth set is defined as more than one tooth belonging to a single taxon, three major preservation types of tooth sets are recognized in the fossil record of sharks : isolated, associated, and semiassociated tooth sets. An isolated tooth set consists of isolated teeth and may represent more than one individual shark. An associated tooth set is a tooth set referable to one individual shark, and it can be either an articulated tooth set or disarticulated tooth set. A semiassociated tooth set consists of one or more disarticulated tooth sets and/or an isolated tooth set, and it includes two subtypes, feed-shed tooth set and coprolitic tooth set. A feed-shed tooth set consists of an assemblage of fallen teeth formed presumably during feeding, and a coprolitic tooth set represents teeth enclosed in a coprolitic matter. Complex taphonomic processes, including both ...