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Beachgoers in North Carolina were given a shock when the fossilized teeth of an ancient shark washed ashore. The not-so-pearly-whites are believed to have belonged to a 60-foot megalodon.
Six-inch long teeth from the Megalodon, a prehistoric shark which roamed the oceans 15 million years ago, were found by beach-goers at Topsail Beach and Surf City.
Beach dredging and recent rains on the sands may have exposed the fossilised teeth, telling the tale of of a 60-foot (18 metre) creature.
Cynthia Crane, Aurora Fossil Museum director, told WITN: “Megalodon was this large, humongous shark that roamed the ancient sea waves during the Miocene and Pliocene time.”
The name Megalodon was first given in 1843 by Swiss-born biologist Louis Aggasiz.
Other tooth findings indicate that the Megalodon weighed up to 30 times as much as today’s Great White Shark at a hefty 70 to 100 tons.
But its fossil record is incomplete and when it became extinct is unclear, according to livescience.com.
There are some conspiracy theories that the species survives to this day, which is not backed by science but was perpetuated by fictional novels such as Steve Alten’s “Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror” and Discovery Channel’s fictional-documentary in 2014.
Beachgoers in North Carolina are finding teeth belonging to a 60-foot prehistoric shark https://t.co/S1Qzlxkqcx pic.twitter.com/pvKKyT3u9L
— Austin Hunt (@AustinHunt) October 24, 2015
Another tooth was found this summer in a Croatian river.
Agencies/Canadajournal
Really cool. Most of the Megladon teeth found in NC are found my commercial divers off the coast. They actually run charters catering for divers you want to look for Megalodon teeth. It’s much more unusual to find them on the beaches because they get picked clean by beach combers. So you need a good storm to expose more. This site is actually giving away a large, NC Megalodon tooth.