Ancient seas, from North Carolina River, USA, ca. 2 million years ago. A gorgeous fossilized example of a Megalodon tooth with a deep slate grey and lighter taupe coloring. Megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon, literally “big tooth”), thought to have become extinct 1.6 million years ago, is the largest known member of the shark family. Prior to 1666, when naturalist Nicolaus Steno studied shark teeth and realized the error, people believed that these teeth were moon rocks or dragon’s tongues. Megalodon teeth are all that remain of these ancient creatures, whose skeletal structures – like those of all sharks – were made of cartilage and did not fossilize. Interestingly, a megalodon’s age at death can be determined by the growth rings radiating from the centra of the tooth. Size: 4.5″ W x 5.125″ H (11.4 cm x 13 cm)
