Heterodontus vincenti

Heterodontus vincenti

(Leriche, 1905)

Common name Bullhead Shark
Fossil group Sharks & Rays
Order Heterodontiformes
Family Heterodontidae
Genus Heterodontus
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Representative Specimens

Selected reference specimens illustrating this species from different geological units and fossil sites.

Identification Examples

Choose a fossil site to view photographed reference specimens.

Summary

Heterodontus vincenti was an extinct bullhead shark related to living horn sharks and the Port Jackson shark. Bullhead sharks are strongly associated with the seabed, where they forage among rocks and sediment for a mixture of mobile prey and hard-shelled animals.

The dentition of H. vincenti was divided into different functional regions. Pointed front teeth could grip prey, while broader rear teeth were better suited to crushing resistant food. This combination suggests a versatile diet that may have included crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms and small fishes.

That mixture of grasping and crushing teeth is one of the characteristic feeding adaptations of the bullhead-shark lineage. The fossils therefore preserve more than an identification feature: they reveal an animal specialised for benthic feeding in the early Eocene sea.

Quick Identification

Look for: a tooth that is short and sturdy rather than long and needle-like. Teeth from farther back in the mouth are especially distinctive: they are broad and flattened, with a raised ridge running along the middle and smaller ridges branching away from it.

Diagnostic Features

  • Anterior teeth possess a stout central cusp rather than a very slender needle-like cusp.
  • Smaller lateral cusplets occur beside the principal cusp on anterior and lateral teeth.
  • Crown surface carries distinct ridges and branching ornament rather than being uniformly smooth.
  • Posterior teeth become low, broad and molar-like, forming a crushing surface.
  • Tooth form changes strongly along the jaw, from pointed anterior teeth through transitional lateral teeth to broad flattened posterior teeth.

Fossil Details

Fossil material
Tooth, Vertebra, Dermal Denticle
Preservation
Anterior cusps chip easily and posterior crushing teeth are often worn smooth. Historical London Clay Heterodontus morphotypes overlap; specimens lacking the diagnostic crown form should be retained as Heterodontus sp.

Recorded Fossil Sites

References

  • Rayner, D.; Mitchell, T.; Rayner, M. (2009). London Clay Fossils of Kent and Essex. 228 pp.. Medway Fossil and Mineral Society, Rochester, Kent View reference
  • Ward, D.J. (1980). The distribution of sharks, rays and chimaeroids in the English Palaeogene. Tertiary Research, 3(1), 13–19 View reference
Last Reviewed
13 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris