When Giant Buzzsaw Sharks Ruled the World!

Presentation: “When Giant Buzzsaw Sharks Ruled the World!” by Dr. Leif Tapanila, Director, Idaho Museum of Natural History & Professor of Geosciences, Idaho State University

April 7th (Tuesday), 6 p.m., Social half-hour; please join us from 5:30-6:00 to enjoy free soft drinks and appetizers before our talk begins!

Live at the Teton County Library & Via Zoom (online)

RAFFLE AT 6PM! Prize: Columbian mammoth tooth

The prize: This is a beautiful slice of a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) molar collected from Florida. These teeth are found by scuba divers in Florida rivers. It has been sliced and highly polished to a mirror like finish on both sides. Dimensions: 4”x3” and ½ inch thick.

The Columbian mammoth was one of the last members of the American megafauna to go extinct, with the date of disappearance generally set at approximately 12,500 years ago. This tooth was last used to chew up vegetation sometime between 30,000 and 12,500 years ago, during our last glacial period. The Columbian mammoth was a savanna and grassland inhabitant, similar to the modern African elephant. Large males grew to  about 4 meters long and weighed up to 7 tons with tusks that could grow up to 4.25 meters long. They had four teeth in their mouth at any one time.

During their life cycle they would have six sets of teeth. When the last set of teeth wore down and could no longer grind up vegetation, they would starve. Columbian mammoths ranged from the northern U.S. to Costa Rica. They were part of a large suite of megafauna including other mammoth  species, saber tooth tigers, short face bears and numerous other animals that are now extinct.

Raffle rules:

• Must be present to win. 
• Drawing will be at 6:00 pm in the library auditorium.
• Members receive one free ticket. One ticket per Membership.
• Members may purchase additional tickets for $5 each.
• You can buy/renew you 2026 Membership that night via cash, check, or Venmo (no IOU’s).
• Membership costs $20 individual, $35 family, and $50 for a sustaining membership.
• GJH board members are not eligible to participate.

Presentation: “When Giant Buzzsaw Sharks Ruled the World!” by Dr. Leif Tapanila, Director, Idaho Museum of Natural History & Professor of Geosciences, Idaho State University

Whorl-toothed sharks were the apex predators of oceans in the late Paleozoic, between 315 and 250 Million years ago. The Permian mass extinction ended their reign, soon to be replaced by giant reptiles of the Mesozoic. In this lecture I will present the last of the giant whorl-toothed sharks, a beast called Sarcoprion, found in the Permian coastal rocks of northeast Greenland. It’s a story of deep time, good luck, and new technology that is revealing the largest fossilized shark skull of the Paleozoic Era!

Leif holding a Helicoprion fossil

Topic: “When Giant Buzzsaw Sharks Ruled the World!”

Time: Tuesday, April 7th, 2026, 06:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4555651818?pwd=U09ObDNZOEIyZmRtMEtsdUowQnJqdz09
Meeting ID: 455 565 1818
Passcode: 576063