A six-year-old boy has found a shark tooth that belonged to a giant prehistoric megalodon that could be up to 20 million years old.
Sammy Shelton found the 10 cm long tooth on Bawdsey Beach in Suffolk, southern England.
Evolutionary biologist and University of East Anglia professor Ben Garrod confirmed that the tooth belonged to a megalodon — the largest shark that ever lived.
The boy’s father Peter Shelton said Sammy is sleeping with his tooth next to his bed as he is “very attached to it”.
Father and son were looking for fossils when they found the giant shark tooth, as reported by the British newspaper Great Yarmouth Mercury.
“Sammy was very excited because we found fragments of shark teeth on the beach, but none as big and heavy as this one,” said Shelton.
Photographs of the discovery were sent to Professor Ben Garrod. “It belonged to a megalodon, the biggest shark of all time – and its teeth are not often found off the UK coast,” he said.
“Perhaps [sejam encontrados] only a few a year, but this is a particularly good example, in very good condition, while others are usually quite worn out when found.”
The megalodon could grow up to 18 meters long, scientists estimate, and weigh up to 60 tons, Garrod said.
The sharks of this species surpassed any other aquatic animal of their time and were “experts at eating whales — they were ambush hunters,” Garrod said.
The megalodon dominated all seas around the world, except for the parts of the oceans surrounding Antarctica.
About megalodon:
- Cartilaginous fish (whose skeleton is made of cartilage rather than bone) were carnivorous and had no known predators;
- He could eat what he liked, but his favorite food was whales, although seals were also on his menu;
- The shark used to hunt mainly in the open sea (the youngest lived closer to the shore) and attacked their prey close to the surface;
- The megalodon could swim at high speeds and in short bursts, so it tended to attack its prey from below;
- During hunting, it was common for the shark to first control its prey injuring a fin or tail. Once the victim was unable to swim, he would be easily swallowed;
- It lived about 20 million years ago, long after the dinosaurs went extinct, 65 million years ago.
Source: BBC Science
The name megalodon means “big tooth”. These sharks were active from about 22 million years ago to about three million years ago, when they became extinct.
Sammy’s discovery was “really big” for the boy, Garrod said. “Few people looking for a megalodon tooth actually find one,” he said. “I know it well — I’ve been looking since I was a child and I know all the beaches in the area — but I still haven’t found my megalodon.”
Sammy’s excitement was shared with his friends at school. He also showed off the tooth to his fellow Scouts and received an explorer’s badge, his father said.
Sammy described the tooth as his best find ever. According to the boy, he found the piece between the sand and stones on the beach.
