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A 2015 study found a mineral-composition difference between the sampled extinct and recent shark teeth: fluoroapatite occurred in both dentin and enameloid in the extinct shark specimens, but only in enameloid in the recent shark specimens. The result describes the teeth examined, not every shark species, and it does not establish why the difference arose.
What the 2015 study found
The paper, “Dental lessons from past to present: ultrastructure and composition of teeth from plesiosaurs, dinosaurs, extinct and recent sharks”, compared teeth from extinct animals with teeth from recent sharks using chemical and microscopic analyses.
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| Teeth examined | Where the study reported fluoroapatite |
|---|---|
| Extinct shark specimens | Both dentin and enameloid |
| Recent shark specimens | Enameloid; dentin had a different composition |
This is a comparison of sampled teeth and their mineral composition. It is not a claim that all extinct sharks had the same dentin chemistry or that all living sharks have identical teeth.
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Enameloid, dentin, and what the result means
Shark teeth have an outer crown covering called enameloid and an inner dentin layer. Enameloid is not simply mammalian enamel under another name; the distinction matters when describing which tissue contains a mineral.
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The study’s contrast concerns the distribution of fluoroapatite between those layers. Tooth mineral composition is also separate from tooth shape and from microscopic tissue organization. Similar-looking teeth do not necessarily have the same chemistry, and a compositional difference alone does not show that tooth form or internal structure changed in the same way.
How the researchers examined the teeth
The paper’s abstract lists elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction with Rietveld refinement, and infrared spectroscopy. Together, these laboratory methods examine chemical composition and aspects of structure; they are not a household test or a simple field identification procedure.
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The paper considered teeth from several groups, including plesiosaurs and dinosaurs as well as sharks. Its central relevance to shark evolution here is the measured mineral-composition contrast between the extinct and recent shark specimens.
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The researchers proposed that mineralization changed after the Cretaceous and that environmental changes could have made fluoroapatite less favorable. Matthias Epple, a study author, was quoted in the 24 July 2015 Chemistry World report as saying the results “indicate a change in tooth mineralisation after the Cretaceous period, perhaps related to environmental changes, that made fluoroapatite unfavourable.” That is a proposed explanation, not a demonstrated cause.
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The same report describes Epple wondering whether fluoride scarcity in seawater and the demands of continual tooth replacement might help account for modern shark dentin composition. This remains speculation: the reported comparison does not by itself establish past seawater fluoride levels or prove that scarcity caused the observed difference.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What later research adds—and does not establish
A 2025 study, “Revealing enameloid shark chemistry at the nanoscale,” used atom probe tomography to compare modern and fossil enameloid and examine whether biomineralization processes remained constant through time. Its abstract frames that as a question; it should not be treated as confirmation of a particular answer to the 2015 study’s proposed environmental explanation.
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Other research addresses a different axis of shark teeth. A 2018 PLOS ONE study of Hemipristis used micro-CT and sections to describe pseudoosteodonty and distinguish it from lamniform osteodonty. That work concerns histology—the organization of tooth tissues—not a direct replication of the 2015 comparison of fluoroapatite distribution.
Quick Recap
What to take away
- In the extinct shark teeth examined in 2015, fluoroapatite was reported in dentin and enameloid; in the recent shark teeth examined, it was reported in enameloid but not as the dentin composition.
- The result is specimen-specific and concerns mineral composition, not a universal rule about shark teeth, their shape, or their microstructure.
- Environmental change after the Cretaceous was suggested as a possible explanation, but the cause has not been established by this comparison.
- Later studies continue to investigate shark enameloid chemistry and tooth tissue structure using different methods and asking different questions.
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