Megalodon derives its name from the Greek meaning “big tooth”. It is an extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived during the Early Miocene period and is a distant relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon Carcharias).
Sharks tend to shed teeth at the rate of one full set every couple of weeks and so during a life spanning 40+ years a ‘Meg’ could well work through 40,000 teeth. Tooth shape varies depending upon where in the mouth it is located. Upper front teeth tend to be more regular in shape and heavier than those in the lower jaw or at the back of the mouth.
Megalodon teeth can be identified by their more regular triangular shape, robust structure, large size, fine edge serrations (not always visible on fossil remains), a lack of lateral denticles (side crowns), and the presence of a bourlette (the darker, chevron-shaped region near the tooth’s root). The largest Megalodon tooth found to date measures 7.1 inches on the diagonal, three times longer than any modern White Shark tooth!
The bite diameter of Megalodon was could reach 3 meters and the jaws could exert a force of between 108KN to 180KN. In comparison the modern day Great White can exert 18KN, a human 1.8KN whilst the T-Rex bite force is estimated to have been 35KN.
Shark teeth value depends greatly upon condition, size and location of find. Top Megalodon specimens can fetch several thousand dollars.
Each shark tooth is unique and comes with an information card.
