A teenager found a rare find during his summer break while walking at Walton-on-the-Naze. The 13-year-old boy found an intact megalodon tooth.
Megalodon Tooth in England
Ben, 13, and his dad, Jason, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, took a walk during a weekend break to search for fossils. The father and son were walking at Walton-on-the-Naze when Ben found the tooth 10 centimeters (4 inches). The pair usually goes to the place for fossil hunting once a year. They also visit the Jurassic Coast, a 95-mile (153 kilometers) stretch of coastline in southern England, BBC reported.
According to Jason, Ben was ecstatic with the rare find. Jason added that he knew the item "was something" when he saw it.
Essex Wildlife Trust confirmed that the tooth belonged to the now-extinct megalodon. It was intact, reportedly a "rare find," BBC noted.
Jason and Ben arrived Friday evening, and by Sunday, they had already walked 16 miles (26 kilometers) along the coast. At the crack of dawn Sunday, the duo was already down at the beach when Ben noticed the giant tooth.
Jason, 50, said they saw the edge of the tooth sticking out. His son immediately knew that it wasn't ordinary, so he went into it and pulled it out from the sand.
According to Essex Wildlife, the tooth would be from 20 million years old to 3.6 million. Several were already found in the area, but most were fragments of the teeth.
Megalodon's favorite food when it was still alive was reportedly whales, but it could eat anything it liked. It could swim at high speed and rush its prey from beneath. It lived about 20 million years ago, long after dinosaurs became extinct.
ALSO READ: Terrifying Megalodon Had a Massive Penis About The Size of a Great White Shark, Expert Says
Other Megalodon Tooth Stories
In a previous report from Science Times, Rachel Shill Cook and her step-daughter, Addison Shill, found a half-palm-sized megalodon tooth while hiking along the West Prince George's Nechako River. They were looking for crystals when Cook noticed what she believed to be an agate in the damp. She dug it and uncovered the rare find.
According to her, it looked ancient. She initially thought it was a shark tooth but was confused since it was too big.
So, she posted a snap of the tooth on The Fossil Forum on Facebook, and an overwhelming response told her that she just found a tooth that belonged to the extinct shark megalodon. Numerous users also identified the tooth as from the Otodus obliquus, the earliest known ancestor of the megalodon.
In May, Cydney Root, 12, also found a huge shark tooth at Walton-on-the-Naze. She was hunting for shark teeth with her aunt, Sophie Freeman when she noticed the tooth. Sophie exclaimed that it was a "meg tooth."
It was reportedly the family's first megalodon tooth, and they experienced mixed emotions. Sophie admitted feeling slightly envious of her niece, who found it before her.
In another story, Molly Sampson, 9, discovered a 5-inch megalodon tooth on Christmas morning in 2022. Sampson has been hunting for shark teeth since she was 1. She took the tooth to Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology at Calvert Marine Museum, who confirmed that the tooth belonged to megalodon.
Why Are People Finding Shark Teeth?
People look for shark teeth because they are valuable. According to How Stuff Works, they can be sold and traded to enthusiasts and collectors. The megalodon tooth is the most valuable of all. Its size can range between 3.5 to 7 inches. They can cost up to several thousand dollars. Some can even be found on the auction website eBay.
RELATED ARTICLE: Unbelievable! Study Reveals Actual Size of Megalodon Shark, One of the Largest Fish to Ever Exist
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