→ 6 cm long Basilosaurus canine teeth It is a very beautiful conical shaped fossil of a Basilosaurus canine teeth which gives a good feeling to hold and look at it reminding of the top predator of the Late Eocene shallow seas around 38 to 33.9 million years ago. The canines of Basilosaurus are just behind the two front incisors and infront of the molar. Basilosaurus had very prominent heterodont dentition which means a lot of variation in the jaw amongst the teeth. The canine is less curved and more pointed and conical with the purpose of firmly holding the prey and puncturing it and helping to strongly hold onto prey. It looks like in this canine major part of enamel (teeth outermost layer) is eroded away probably due to fossilization conditions and the rest of enamel and dentin(2nd layer of teeth) are merged together during fossilization. This is due to smooth surface and the continuity between dentine and enamel. One can observe it by rubbing finger on the fossil and by visual inspection as well. The tip has nicely pointed and can be felt. Adult Basilosaurus teeth with the root can be more than 12 cm long. Since, this teeth is just 6 cm, its is surely a young Basilosaurus teeth. Basilosaurus was a mammal and mammals shed their teeth in early childhood. So that's also one possibility its a milk teeth of young Basilosaurus. In addition, this teeth could also belong to young Durodon, which was a smaller member of Basilosauridae family and a favourite prey of Basilosaurus. By no means adult Durodon was small either as it could reach length of 5 meters while Basilosaurus could grow as long as as 20 meters. The teeth has been professionally conserved to make it long lasting and to the best of our understanding it is in natural state without repair or restoration. Please refer to photos for reference.