A boy from the United Kingdom discovered a rare tooth belonging to the Megalodon, the world's most giant shark species.
According to BBC News, Sammy Shelton spotted the 10-cm-long tooth on Bawdsey beach in Suffolk during a bank holiday weekend.
Professor Ben Garrod of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, an evolutionary scientist, revealed that the teeth belonged to a Megalodon, an extinct shark species that flourished between 3 million and 20 million years ago.
It's worth mentioning that fossil seekers go to Bawdsey Beach. When Sammy and his father, Peter Shelton, looked for fossils, they came upon the massive shark tooth.
Child 'Overjoyed' To See Giant Megalodon Tooth On Beach
Shelton told the BBC that his 6-year-old son was thrilled since they had previously seen shark tooth bits on the sand, but those were not as large and hefty.
Shelton went on to say that his son slept with the tooth next to his bed because he was "extremely connected to it."
"We knew what it was but not how rare it was," the boy's father told the Mercury (via 9News.au).
"Now that Sammy has found this, it has really piqued his interest, and he took it to school to show his class," he added.
In addition, the father stated that he sent Garrod images of the discovery. According to the professor, the tooth belongs to a megalodon.
Garrod further stated that the Megalodon might reach a length of 18 meters (60 feet) and a weight of 60 tons.
A six-year-old boy has found a shark tooth belonging to a giant prehistoric megalodon that could be up to 20 million years old. Sammy Shelton found the 10cm-long (4in) tooth on Bawdsey beach in Suffolk during a bank holiday break. https://t.co/e4riuBGYJo pic.twitter.com/Y3l3zNlYDs
— In memoriam Robert Kimbell (@Rob_Kimbell) May 9, 2022
Professor Garrod described Sammy's discovery as "a pretty huge deal" for the little child, noting that "not many individuals who hunt for a megalodon tooth rarely find one.
Meanwhile, Sammy hailed the "huge" teeth as his best-ever find, saying it was simply lying on the sand and rocks.
About Megalodon
Since he was Sammy's age, Garrod has been looking for a megalodon fossil but has been unsuccessful, according to the Great Yarmouth Mercury.
He claims that the little child is the first person to touch it in over three million years.
The child's discovery, he said, will pique the curiosity of the whole paleontology community.
The tooth belonged to the biggest shark, which inhabited the globe around 3.6 million years ago. Megalodons had 250 sharp teeth used to feed on other giant fishes.
According to the Natural History Museum's website, the whale-killing shark may grow 20 meters (67 ft) long, three times larger than any great white shark.
When pursuing its meal, the shark's mouth could widen to a size of 2.7 by 3.4 meters, easily swallowing two adult people.
Because of the age of the rocks, several megalodon teeth have been discovered in North America, according to Emma Bernard, curator of the Natural History Museum's fossil fish collection.
"We can find lots of their teeth off the east coast of North America, along the coasts and at the bottom of saltwater creeks and rivers of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida," she said, Ladbible reported.
"They are also quite common off the coast of Morocco and parts of Australia. They can even be found in the UK near Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex."
RELATED ARTICLE : Evidence of Megatoothed Shark Attack on Whale 15 Million Years Ago Preserved in Ancient Tooth
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