Girl collects shark teeth – and discovers huge specimen

paleontology
9-year-old girl searches for shark teeth on the beach – and discovers a huge specimen

Nine year old Molly with her found ancient shark tooth

© Instagram / calvertmarinemuseum

A girl is on the beach with her family to look for the remains of ancient animals. Suddenly she discovers a tooth that is as big as her whole hand.

Over Christmas, nine-year-old Molly S. went with her older sister Natalie and her father to find shark teeth. They waded into the water on a stretch of coast in the US state of Maryland – the Calvert Cliffs – and after a short time the time had come: Molly discovered a tooth that was almost 13 centimeters long. This is nearly the size of Molly’s entire hand and belongs to an extinct species of shark — the megalodon — that lived millions of years ago, according to the Washington Post.

The family immediately took Molly’s find to the Solomons Village Maritime Museum to show to the paleontology experts. They immediately reported on the extraordinary story via Instagram. Museum curator Godfrey told the Washington Post that he was impressed by Molly’s find, which he believes once belonged to the species known as Otodus megalodon. By analyzing the tooth and the age of the sediment in which it was discovered, Godfrey concluded that the tooth is probably around 15 million years old and likely came from a shark up to 15 meters long.



shark teeth

15 million year old tooth

“Megalodon teeth are found fairly regularly along the Calvert Cliffs, but these large ones are indeed rare,” Godfrey said, adding that only a handful at most are found each year. The size of the tooth root found serves as evidence that the tooth came from the upper left side of the shark’s jaw, Godfrey said, adding on behalf of the museum that Molly could of course keep the tooth.

Such a find also has a monetary value, which Molly shouldn’t really care about, as her mother explains in an interview with the “Washington Post”: “I’m sure she will always carry it with her – this tooth is priceless for her!”

Source: “Washington Post”

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