Is There A Fossil Dentist In The House?

Posted by pam on Oct 6, 2011 in Manasota Key, Puffer fish mouth plate, Shark's Teeth, Stingray Mouth Plate | 13 comments

Stingray Mouth Plates

Shelling sistah Susan S. took a road trip with her husband to Manasota Key to do some SHARK’S TEETHing at Blind Pass Park in Englewood, Florida. I couldn’t wait to see what she brought back to Sanibel. The first thing she told me “We found 250 SHARK’S TEETH!” then added “… and a guy on the beach told me these were a couple of STINGRAY MOUTH PLATES”.

Well, I guess they are. They are only about a half inch long and you can tell what they are by the little grooves. Doesn’t it boggle the mind how someone figured out what these little pieces are when they are mixed in with sand, pebbles and shell crush? They can be up to 2 million years old!

This is Susan with a hand full of SHARK’S TEETH…

Look at all the SHARK’S TEETH spread out. It’s so much more obvious that these are fossil teeth… instead of figuring out a fossil mouth plate.

This tooth was about 2 1/2 inches long and broken in half. This came from a big sucker…

Okay, now we have seen a STINGRAY MOUTH PLATE, lots of SHARK’S TEETH and remember Carla found a PUFFERFISH MOUTHPLATE when I shelled with her in Bonita…

 These poor creatures needed a dentist! They lost so many mouth parts and they’re washing up all along the Gulf Coast! ;)

 It’s always fun to learn about other types of beach bling that washes up on the shore and always fun to hang out with someone who shares the same love for it. Thanks Susan and the rest of my shelling family out there! Who else could get excited about a STINGRAY MOUTH PLATE?