Unexpectedly discovered fossil teeth Megalodon 8cm long when walking the dog

Florida residents discovered a million-year-old fossil tooth of the largest shark ever existed on Earth.

The discovery was made by accident by Kayla Klatt on May 11 while walking the dog in the Eglin Preserve in Mary Esther, northwest Florida. She said she had walked this path dozens of times, but that night was paying attention to fossils. The light was shining on it properly, highlighting a portion of that on the ground.

Megalodon fossil teeth were found in Florida, USA. (Image: Northwest Florida Daily News).

Klatt and a friend came back the next morning to carefully carve the tooth out of the road. They then sent pictures of the samples and sent them to Florida University of America for analysis. It is confirmed by paleontologists that it is a fossil tooth of prehistoric monster Megalodon.

Megalodon is the largest shark ever to exist on Earth , dominating the oceans 20 million to 3 million years ago. Based on the fossils left, scientists believe they can reach a length of 20 m, three times the size of today's great white sharks.

The largest known fossil teeth of Megalodon are up to 20cm long. The Eglin specimen is therefore a relatively small one when it is only nearly 8cm long. 

Compare the size of Megalodon shark teeth (left) with the large white shark teeth. (Photo: Newsweek).

Experts at the University of Florida suspect the tooth was brought to Eglin Reserve from a mine during the construction of the road. The pieces of rock attached to the specimen provide hints of its original location.

"This is really an important clue to the origin of the fossils. So if you find a specimen, don't rush to remove what sticks to it," says Richard C. Hulbert, manager of the Department of Paleontology. vertebrate biology at the Florida Museum of Natural History said.