SHARKS
The waters covering what is now Bakersfield were teeming with sharks and their cousins, the rays. Each one grew and shed as many as 20,000 or more teeth during its lifetime, and we have a wide variety to show you. The teeth range from nearly microscopic to the six inch choppers of bus size carnivores. Since their skeletons are soft cartilage rather than bone, not much more of a shark or ray fossilizes than its teeth and the occasional vertebra or skin spine. We also help you visualize these ancient predators. Reconstructive drawings illustrate many species, and several modern jaws show how their ancestor's teeth were arrayed. The shape of the teeth tell us what each shark ate and where it lived and offer another glimpse into the Miocene environments of Kern County. Since sharks' cartilagenous skeletons don't fossilize well, we don't really know exactly what sort of shark came equipped with the six inch teeth we find. But based on comparisons with modern sharks, such as the great white shark, this ancient shark, called Carcharocles megaladon, was as big as a bus and its jaws are over six feet tall.
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Web Master: Sherry Pauley
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