FIGURE 1. An assortment of large (>106 μm fraction) denticles (elasmobranch scales; left) and fish teeth (right) from DSDP Site 596, a red clay core in the South Pacific. These ichthyoliths are approximately 52 million years old. Image was taken on the Hull Lab Imaging System, Yale University. Scale bar is 500 μm.
FIGURE 2. A flowchart showing the steps for sediment processing for efficient and effective ichthyolith isolation from a variety of sediment types. Sediment types are in boxes, while processing steps are shown in ovals.
FIGURE 3. Paleocene-aged ichthyoliths from ODP Site 1262, stained with Alizarin Red S. The scale bar is 500 μm, with teeth >106 μm in the upper row and teeth <106 μm in the lower. Note that in the coloring effect is present in all teeth, however, the degree of staining varies.
FIGURE 4. Examples of select taxonomically identifiable fossil ichthyoliths and modern counterparts. All modern ichthyoliths were isolated from specimens in the Scripps Marine Vertebrate Collection. The fossil Myctophidae and Triakidae specimens are from ODP Site 1262, and are 62 million years old. The Scaridae modern teeth are from Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Fish Collection and subfossil teeth are from coral reef sediment cores taken off of the coast of Bocas del Toro, Panama, and are approximately 1200 years old.
