The Ocean Is Birthing 15 Million-Year-Old Shark Teeth Right Now
In ancient lore, Aphrodite, the goddess of all things beautiful and passionate, arose from the churning foam and crashing waves of the ocean, pearl birth from a glittering sea. This week, a bunch of really old teeth are being spat out by that same sea.
In North Carolina, the teeth of megalodon, an extinct species of shark that was likely 30 times the size of living sharks today, are washing up on the beach, thanks to recent rains and local beach dredging. The teeth, which are between 2.6 and 15 million years old, are pretty dirty.
The largest megalodon tooth ever found, by height, was 6.6 in. long, discovered in 1993. Judging by its size, scientists estimated that the shark it belonged to was about 52 feet long.
This one is smaller, but it is, admittedly, pretty big for a tooth.
