Carcharocles megalodon tooth BIRUG 10078

An apex predator of warm shallow seas from the Middle Miocene to the Pliocene (15.9–2.6 Ma), *C. megalodon* fed on large marine animals such as whales, turtles, fish and other sharks. It was the largest known cartilaginous shark, with a size estimated from tooth size as 10-14m long for males, and females even larger at 13-17m. More closely related to Mako than to Great White sharks, *C. megalodon* was recent in the evolutionary history of sharks, which are an ancient group first appearing at least 420mya and before land plants and terrestrial vertebrates. Females gave birth to live young in sheltered coastal estuaries or bays, “nurseries”, as do modern sharks. The extinction of *C. megalodon* was possibly related to ocean cooling, but permitted the evolution of modern large whales. This specimen was was found in Kent and was digitised by Courtney Szanto, using an Artec Spider 3D scanner. Description compiled by Douglas Salmon.