Sharktooth Hill is a Middle Miocene marine bone bed in the Round Mountain Silt formation, located in the hills east of Bakersfield, California. It preserves an exceptionally dense concentration of marine vertebrate fossils from approximately 15 to 16 million years ago, including hundreds of identifiable shark species. For a collector interested in West Coast Miocene material, Sharktooth Hill is the locality.
The Bone Bed
The Sharktooth Hill bone bed is a thin (often only six to twelve inches thick) but extraordinarily dense layer of marine fossil material. Sharks, marine mammals, marine birds, and pelagic fish all occur. The density results from a specific Miocene environmental condition: a shallow marine basin where vertebrate remains accumulated faster than they could be dispersed or fully decomposed.
Characteristic Color
Sharktooth Hill teeth carry a signature dark gray to deep blue-black coloration, often with iridescent surface highlights. The dark color comes from the manganese and iron content of the matrix. A tooth listed as Sharktooth Hill that displays warm tan or orange coloration is misattributed; the formation does not produce those tones.
Species You Will See
The dominant shark in Sharktooth Hill collections is Cosmopolitodus hastalis (sometimes still called Isurus hastalis), the unserrated great white ancestor. Teeth are broad-bladed, smooth-edged, and can reach 3 to 4 inches in slant height. Megalodon and O. chubutensis are present but less common than at Bone Valley. Other species include the sand tigers, makos, and the broad-tooth mako (Carcharodon hubbelli, a transitional great white ancestor).
Marine Mammal Material
Sharktooth Hill is famous beyond sharks for its marine mammal fossils: early baleen whales, toothed whales, walruses, and pinnipeds. Some collectors specifically pursue marine mammal teeth and ear bones from the locality alongside shark material.
Access and Sourcing
The primary access to Sharktooth Hill material is through Buena Vista Museum of Natural History in Bakersfield, which operates controlled fossil digs on the principal bone bed. Commercial dealers acquire material through these dig participation programs and through long-established private collections in the Bakersfield area. A reputable Sharktooth Hill specimen will come with a dealer who can speak to the dig year and the layer position.
What to Look For
Three diagnostic checks: the characteristic dark gray to blue-black coloration (the locality is unmistakable when you have a few specimens to compare); intact root edges (Sharktooth Hill material is often complete because the bone bed environment was protective); and minimal restoration. Many Sharktooth Hill teeth from the most productive layers are extracted in display-grade condition without intervention.
Pricing
A grade-A C. hastalis tooth in the 2 to 3 inch range typically prices in the $200 to $500 range. Megalodon teeth from the locality (less common than Bone Valley megs) command meaningful premiums on top of the standard Bone Valley pricing because of the locality scarcity. Marine mammal material varies widely by species.