I have a museum, yeah. We had a smaller one in Miami, but we moved up to Gainesville, 12 years ago. And we have one now, the exhibit hall is 32 feet long and it’s about 12 feet across. And then there’s a second room, that’s slightly smaller. And I… Read More
That show how that shark has evolved over 65 million years. And now there’s no doubt about what it is, or who it is and who’s it related to. So we have made an interesting discovery there, and it’s all because that one set of teeth that was found in… Read More
And you have put together a museum devoted to this?… Read More
And it’s smaller. And I could not find that tooth in this set. And I almost gave the set away, I was so frustrated with it. And finally he came to me well, that tooth isn’t there. It’s another tooth the same size. So it’s not really a white shark,… Read More
Well, first of all, you separate the upper from the lower, because the lower teeth in sharks. Most species of sharks and certainly megalodons, are narrower. The teeth are thicker through, and there’s more of an arch to the root. So when you have a whole group of teeth like… Read More
People ask me, well, how do you determine where the teeth go?… Read More
Yeah, they have. In fact, they actually named a species after me (chuckles). I guess that’s the crowning achievement for a paleontologist or somebody that’s studying paleontologist. They have something named after you. But yeah, they have. Because for example, the big tooth sharks, the megalodon shark. For years scientist… Read More
Well, in 1987, a friend of mine found some associated teeth up in the phosphate mines in Central Florida. And he called me and he eventually found 75 teeth. And then I went up there and helped him with 120 more. So we got 95 teeth to the same megalodon… Read More
Have they added to the scientific naming of different sharks?… Read More
Well, it helps them because the more specimens you get of shark teeth, the better your ability to dissect or decide let’s say what they are, and who they’re related to. Associates tell you a lot more because they tell you about the relationship of the teeth to each other… Read More
How has the collection helped the community that studies this?… Read More
I’d say I have the largest, most comprehensive collection of fossil shark material in the United States, maybe in the world. For example, associate sets of teeth, or teeth that come from one shark that died 10 million, 50 million, 70 million years ago are extremely rare. Because a sharks… Read More
And in the Peruvian desert, the wind blows them around. So to find a group of teeth all together in one spot from one shark is an extremely rare event. Went up to the American Museum of Natural History 15 years ago, I guess. And they didn’t have any, you’d… Read More
Would you say you have the largest collection?… Read More
Right. I go out to Tucson every year, to the big fossil mineral show out there. It’s one of the biggest in the world. And there are collectors and dealers that come there from Chile, Peru, Russia, United Kingdom, from all over China, from all over, and Morocco. I get… Read More
How do you acquire them?… Read More
And is it the same thing, people now know who you are?… Read More
(laughs) Well as long as I didn’t stink up the house, and it kept me home, that’s better than me going out at night, let’s say crossing about. But no, they tolerated it. Our son actually got interested and he helped me prepare some skulls. And these came from literally… Read More
How did the family feel about this hobby?… Read More
Where did you keep all of these?… Read More