Colorado Has a Complicated History with Sharks

It's no secret that the state of Colorado is home to numerous dangerous wild animals. These include, but are not limited to, bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and most recently, wolves.

However, a sea creature that is feared by many, the shark, has been associated with the landlocked state of Colorado multiple times over the years, and remnants of the terrifying creatures have even been found in the state.

Read More: Colorado Has a Complicated Relationship + Past with Beavers |

So, what exactly does this complicated relationship between Colorado and sharks really look like?

Colorado's Complicated History of Sharks

If you're a fan of Colorado's wilderness and enjoy hiking around the great state, there's a slight chance you may have come across a shark tooth. While this is an incredibly rare occurrence, hikers looking for arrowheads have had this exact experience.

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These ancient shark teeth once belonged to a prehistoric species known as Cladoselache, a type of shark that lived in present-day Colorado roughly 370 million years ago.

However, you may remember a news story that was shared online back in 2023 announcing that this type of shark was going to be the next species to be reintroduced to the state. Fortunately, the post was a tongue-in-cheek April Fool's Day joke published on April 1, 2023.

Another instance of media claiming that Colorado was home to deadly sharks came from an episode of South Park. The episode featured many of the show's characters with special needs attending a summer camp and satirized the heavy topic of steroid abuse in a style that parodied the TV show Intervention.

At one point, a shark appears to jump out of the lake and attack one of the campers, followed by a caption calling it "the deadliest freshwater shark in Colorado."

Luckily, and unsurprisingly, this species of shark was also the work of fiction.