A
ll you see is 300 serrated teeth coming at you in the darkness. As you are drawn closer, you realize that unbelievably each tooth is big enough to cover the palm of a man’s hand. The gaping shark jaw could tear you in half like a dinner roll. The only escape is a time warp. Relax, this is a prehistoric nightmare, but the teeth from the Carcharocles megalodon an extinct shark, are real. This species is better known as Carcharodon megalodon and was once believed to have been the ancestor to the Great White Shark. More |
| The Carcharocles megalodon was once believed to have been related to the Great White shark. Jim and Susan Pendergraft sit inside a life-sized replica jaw. |
recent scientific research indicates that Carcharocles megalodon was the last species to evolve in a separate line of mega-toothed sharks. Just as fierce, it is thought to have been the size of a railroad box car, to have weighed eight times that of a great white shark and to have hunted whales when it cruised the oceans 15 million years ago. When fully extended, the jaws from this ancient carnivore could have easily closed around a Volkswagen Beetle.
With more than 25 years of experience in paleontology, Jim and Susan Pendergraft, J& S Fossils, have picked up where the imagination leaves off. Since the jaws of these prehistoric sharks were cartilaginous, their entire carcass decomposed relatively quickly. They have had life-sized replicas of the C. megalodon reconstructed. Scientists have determined that the size of the jaw is estimated based on the size of the teeth. For example, every inch of tooth is roughly equal to one foot in jaw height.
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J&S Fossils
* 17 Jeff Road, Largo, Fl 33774 * 813-595-2661 * FAX 813-595-8544 * fossils@gte.net