Extinct Tiger Shark
Galeocerdo latidens  (Agassize)

Age - Eocene  Commonality - Very Uncommon(?)

First appearing in the Eocene Galeocerdo latidens is considered the oldest of the tiger sharks. These teeth are small, averaging ¼ inch when measured on the diagonal.  At first glance these teeth may easily be mistaken for a small Galeocerdo aduncus, a common find in New Jersey. Besides size, G. latidens differs from G. aduncus in two obvious areas, a lack of serrations on the mesial  coronal apex (tip of the crown) and more importantly the presence of simple rather than complex serrations on the distal shoulder.
  Because of its size these teeth tend to fall through the standard ¼ inch mesh sifting screens commonly used when collecting the NJ streams. For this reason I have left the commonality of G. latidens as questionable. 

Galeocerdo latidens teeth are small
 

Lingual and labial and  views of Galeocerdo latidens
(ruler in mm)
 

Left - Galeocerdo latidens
Right - Galeocerdo aduncus
A. The mesial edge of G. latidens is fairly straight
B. The coronal apex lacks serrations
  
 

Complex vs. simple serrations

Complex serrations consist of serrations on serrations, simple serrations lack
this characteristic and by far are the more common type.
 
 

Galeocerdo latidens
 

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