Shark Tooth Meanings

Fossils are a wonderful tool to assist you in moving from the old to the new and to be receptive to the fresh, innovative forces that are available to you. Fossils can assist you in your quest for transition, transformation and personal growth, helping you to understand the process of change. They can help you instil quality and excellence in your environment.

Triangular shark teeth, up to 8-10 cm wide with smooth enamel and sharp edges, are often found with one or more side cuspids. They come from a large prehistoric Lamna Obliqua shark, now known as an Otodus Obliquus or Mackeral shark. The name is derived from the Greek word "lamna" which means fish of prey, and was named after the legendary monster Lamia. These creatures lived in the late Paleocene and Eocene Ages, between 40 and 60 million years ago. Growing to 9 - 10 metres long and weighing 15 tons, they lived across a large area of the oceans, as fossil teeth of these creatures have been found in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. These prehistoric sharks are closely related to our modern day Mako sharks and were believed to be aggressive and hunt in packs. The largest shark to exist in prehistoric times was the Megladon, meaning "big tooth" which grew to over 18 metres and looked like a stocky Great White shark. In fact, sharks are so perfectly designed that they have changed very little over many millennia. Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralised or otherwise preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms. In ancient times they were believed to be a gift from the stars and were revered by many cultures. Because of their age, they have been used throughout the centuries as a talisman for protection and long life.

Fossilisation is actually a rare occurrence because organic materials tend to decompose and the process requires the relatively quick preservation of bodily remains. Normally, the remains need to be covered by sediment or trapped in resin as soon as possible. However there are exceptions to this, such as if an organism comes to rest in an anoxic (without oxygen) environment at the bottom of a lake. The oldest known structured fossils date from 3.5 billion years ago. There are several different types of fossils and fossilisation processes including permineralization, mold or replacement fossils, compression fossils, resin fossils and trace fossils. Many fossil shark teeth are from Morocco, which has vast deposits of Devonian Limestone which dates back to three hundred and fifty million years ago. As with all sharks, their skeleton was made of cartilage which does not fossilise, so only fossilised vertebrae and teeth survive and have been found in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.

I will allow myself to open to the process of change and all the possibilities it brings.