It Was A Fossil
So, it wasn’t a tongue but a fossilized tooth belonging to an ancient creature. So, how huge was the shark? According to the experts, for every inch of the tooth, the shark grows 10 feet ( 1 inches=10 foot). And this tooth was 6-inches which makes this shark 60 feet long. Amazing, right? There was more to the shark.
Modern Sharks
If going by the size of this ancient shark, you’ll be surprised to know that it was three times larger than the white shark. White sharks are their modern-day ancestors. But the question was, how did they grow up to be this big? White sharks are what 15 feet or 16 feet in size, but Megalodon was 60 feet! There has to be some sort of reason behind this, right? And yes, there was.
The Answer
“Something was going on with the productivity and climate that produced that pattern, or with their prey and their competitors that made the species become large,” said Dr. Catalina Pimiento, Paleoecologist. So, it means that because of the climate which wasn’t as bad as the way it is today, the megalodon grew up to be this huge in size. That’s something we don’t hear every day.
Unexpected Evidence
After discovering this amazing fossilized tooth, Denny was on top of the world, “I couldn’t get a million dollars and be any happier,” he said. “Even the small shark’s tooth just excites the heck out of you… I felt like I was a lottery winner.” But he wasn’t the only one who felt like this.
A Good News
When we thought that there haven’t been such discoveries before, one of the photographers from the Surf City Gazette told that every year, one or two teeth of megalodon wash up to the shore each year. And there was one man from West Virginia who was happy to hear this news. So, what did he do with this new piece of information?
Made His Life
Greg Smith who worked as a community relations director at Camden Clark Medical Center, who later opened his own firearm shop, shared Denny’s excitement. He became so fascinated by the megalodon’s teeth that he started collecting the fossilized teeth. “I was trying to think of something that was good for grandpa and grandson,” Greg said.