The Best Shark Tooth Sites Outside the United States

The phosphate deposits of the Oulad Abdoun Basin near Khouribga, Morocco are the single most significant source of Eocene (56–33 million years ago) marine vertebrate material in the world. Moroccan phosphate workers and commercial fossil dealers have extracted tens of thousands of elasmobranch specimens from these strata — the dominant commercial supply for the global shark tooth trade originates here.

The Ouled Abdoun phosphate series contains the remains of sharks from the Early through Middle Eocene: *Striatolamia macrota*, *Brachycarcharias lerichei*, early *Otodus* lineage teeth, giant guitarfish, and unusual bottom-dwelling sharks not commonly represented in younger formations. The most prized Moroccan shark teeth are large, multi-layered *Otodus obliquus* teeth — the direct ancestor of megalodon — which reach 3+ inches from this deposit and have a distinctive double cusp base morphology.

Public access to active phosphate mining is not possible. Material reaches the international market almost entirely through Moroccan dealers selling at mineral shows (Munich and Denver are the largest venues) and through online sellers. If you cannot travel, reputable Moroccan dealers provide an unmatched source for Early Cenozoic species unavailable in North America.

Belgium has a claim no other country can make: it is the original scientific homeland of shark tooth paleontology. Louis Agassiz, the 19th-century Swiss-American naturalist who established the scientific classification of fossil shark teeth, based his landmark 1833–1843 *Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles* heavily on Belgian specimens. The Rupelian Oligocene deposits exposed in the Antwerp region have been producing museum-quality specimens continuously since then.

The best Belgian hunting is concentrated along the Boom Clay and Rupel Formation exposures in the Antwerp province. The clay deposits here date from roughly 28–34 million years ago (Oligocene) and contain a diverse shallow-marine fauna: *Carcharias acutissima*, early lamnids, a well-preserved *Isurus* lineage, and abundant ray material. The classic site is along the Nete River valley and the clay quarries near Boom, where material is occasionally accessible in active and abandoned clay extraction pits.

The famous Antwerp Crag deposits (late Miocene to Pliocene) in the harbor region are no longer publicly accessible, but the Oligocene Boom Clay remains reachable. Belgian fossil clubs run periodic organized digs; contact the Werkgroep voor Tertiaire en Kwartaire Geologie for access information. Museum quality material — pristine 3-dimensional Oligocene teeth — is available at Belgian mineral fairs.

England provides two distinct hunting windows. The London Clay Formation, best exposed on the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary, is Eocene (approximately 50–55 million years old) and contains one of the best-documented shallow tropical marine faunas from the Paleogene. Shark teeth here are smaller and often 3-dimensional (uncrushed), with frequent finds of *Striatolamia* and early otodontid teeth. Sheppey beach washing and the occasional cliff fall are the access points.

The Red Crag of Suffolk's east coast is Pliocene in age (roughly 2–4 million years old) and is significant because it represents one of the last depositional environments before the modern North Sea fauna. Large *Isurus hastalis* (broad mako) teeth — up to 3 inches — occur in the Red Crags, along with abundant *Cosmopolitodus hastalis* and rare early great white teeth that document the turnover from megalodon's extinction window to the modern fauna.

Access is via beach collecting after storms and crag wall exposures on private or eroding Suffolk coast sites — permission from landowners is typically required for cliff face work. The Harwich and Ipswich natural history societies coordinate site access. Both English deposits are legally protected for vertebrate material on designated SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) land; verify legal status before collecting systematically.

The Coquimbo Formation along Chile's Atacama coast has produced some of the largest megalodon teeth found outside the US East Coast. The formation is Miocene to Pliocene in age and represents shallow warm-water marine deposits from the ancestral Pacific. The extreme aridity of the Atacama desert near the deposits means minimal weathering — material emerging from these strata is often in pristine condition.

The most documented commercial and scientific collection occurs near the town of Caldera in the Atacama Region. Scientific expeditions have recovered giant *Otodus megalodon* teeth, large *Cosmopolitodus hastalis* (broad-finned mako), and ray material from the Bahía Inglesa Formation. One scientifically documented megalodon tooth from the Chilean Miocene exceeded 6.5 inches — among the largest confirmed teeth in any public collection.

There is no established recreational hunting infrastructure in the Atacama fossil zones the way there is in the US. Travel is challenging, permits are theoretically required for significant commercial extraction, and access logistics involve 4WD travel in true desert conditions. For the serious collector, however, a guided expedition to the Atacama coast represents the global frontier of megalodon teeth by size.

Within the United States, substantial shark tooth resources exist outside the well-known East Coast and Florida corridor. The Eocene Lisbon Formation in Alabama's Claiborne Group produces unusually diverse early Cenozoic shark assemblages — multiple *Otodus* lineage sizes, *Striatolamia*, large grinding shark species — from a phosphatic hardground matrix. The Alabama beaches near Claiborne have been producing for generations; the Claiborne group outcrops in central Alabama are being actively collected by a small but dedicated regional community.

The Portland Formation exposed along the Connecticut River valley contains Late Jurassic-through-Cretaceous material, including shark teeth from species 100+ million years old — a completely different geological window from the Cenozoic sites. Cretaceous *Squalicorax* (crow shark) teeth and early lamnid ancestors occur here, often found during river gravel bar hunting after spring floods.

The Niobrara Formation exposed across Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas — the remnant seafloor of the Western Interior Seaway — is one of the largest fossil shark deposits in the world by geographic extent. Cretaceous shark teeth (*Squalicorax falcatus*, *Cretoxyrhina mantelli*) erode into farmer's fields and are found by agricultural workers regularly. No organized hunting infrastructure exists, but the material is legally collectable on public BLM land throughout the region. *Cretoxyrhina mantelli* — the Ginsu shark — reached 20 feet in length and left teeth approaching 2 inches commonly across these deposits.