Rare shark tooth fossil unearthed in southern Manitoba

There was a time when Manitoba was covered in a warm, shallow, ocean water known as the Western Interior Seaway. Sea life swept across what is now the Prairies and the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre is learning of a new creature that once swam in this region.

During the first tour dig of the season in Morden, a visitor found a small shark tooth. After inspecting the discovery, the team at the centre determined it was from a group of sharks known as Carcharhinidae or requiem sharks – a species that wasn't previously known to have been in this area.

"It was really an awesome find, not just for the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, but also for Manitoba, because this is a first. So many others might be waiting for us," said Bruno Costa, a paleontologist at the centre.

This species still exists today and current sharks in this family include the lemon, blue and gray reef types.

The tooth is small, around the size of a fingernail. Costa said with only one tooth discovered, it is hard to know the exact size of the shark, but he thinks it could be around three to four feet.

"They're quite small in comparison to other sharks that could grow up to 15 feet long…Of course, these waters were ruled by the mosasaurs at this time. So, these sharks were in the middle of the trophic food chain. So they were competing with lower and medium-sized carnivores."

Costa noted it is common for the discovery centre to find a variety of fish vertebra and other marine reptiles on digs, but finding this tooth paints more of a complete picture of what lived in this area 83 million years ago.

"If we can find more, then we can give a better picture of what sort of sharks (were part of) the ground sharks and requiem sharks. So, very excited for that in the future."