Sharply Serrated, 6.02" Fossil Megalodon Tooth - North Carolina

This is an absolutely killer, 6.02" long North Carolina "Ledge Tooth". These teeth are collected offshore in about 100 feet of water, having eroded out of the Pungo River Formation in the distant past. Nearly all of the teeth are worn with few retaining serrations, but this one is stunning. It has razor sharp serrations, beautiful glossy enamel, an excellent root and mostly intact bourrelet.

It's a huge tooth at 6.02" long and 4.47" wide, meaning it would have come from a prehistoric mega shark likely in the 40-50 foot size range.

This awesome tooth with the pictured display stand.

About The Megalodon Shark

The megalodon was not only the biggest and baddest prehistoric shark that ever lived, it was the largest marine predator in the history of the planet. Today’s great white sharks would be a mere bite-size snack for this monster. It terrorized the diverse ocean waters around the world from 15.9 to 2.6 million years ago, from the late Oligocene to the early Pleistocene. This massive and extinct species of shark was estimated to grow to nearly 60 feet in length and has often been declared the greatest vertebrate predator that ever lived.

Reconstructed jaws on display at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Reconstructed jaws on display at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.


These mega-toothed sharks were a giant and more robust version of the great white. They had 276 teeth in 5 rows and, like today's sharks, shed their teeth throughout their lifetime. The largest megalodon teeth on record reached a staggering 7.5 inches (190mm)! Compare this to the largest great whites, whose teeth top out around 3 inches long. Wow!

Their teeth were bone-crunching and flesh-cutting tools evolved for grasping powerful prey such as baleen whales. Fossil evidence supports that megalodon focused its attack on the hard, bony parts of its prey, such as rib cages, flippers, shoulders, and spines, effectively disabling large whales and harming major organs such as the heart and lungs. This strategy explains their thick, robust teeth.

Megalodon had a cosmopolitan (global) distribution and its giant teeth can be found in deposits throughout the world. Some are collected on land in phosphate deposits, while many are collected from rivers and coastlines after eroding out of the rocks. This contributes to the water-worn, polished appearance of many teeth.

The standard measure for megalodon teeth is slant height, or the longest edge of the tooth. Adult megalodon teeth were typically in the 4 to 5 inch range: teeth over 6 inches are rare and represent super-sized individuals. Only a handful of teeth have ever been found over seven inches.

No one knows for sure why the megalodon went extinct 2.6 million years ago, but the cooling of the climate and gradual disappearance of many of the large whales it relied on for food are suspects.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Otodus megalodon
LOCATION
North Carolina Coast
FORMATION
Pungo River Formation
SIZE
6.02" long, 4.47" wide, 14.4 ounces
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#192465
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.