First fossil megalodon tooth recovered ‘in situ’ from the ocean

2024-01-05 15:05:29

Detail of the fossil megalodon tooth – EVNAUTILUS/YOUTUBE

MADRID, 5 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –

A new study has documented the first in situ discovery of a fossil tooth from the shark Megaselachus from the depths of the sea in the Pacific Ocean.

Commonly known as megalodon, this species was among the largest sharks that ever inhabited our planet, but it became extinct approximately 3.5 million years ago.

In the summer of 2022, scientists from the Ocean Exploration Trust collected a geological sample more than 3,090 meters deep while exploring a never-before-explored seamount about 150 miles south of Johnston Atoll.

The sample, recovered by the ROV Hercules and returned aboard the E/V Nautilus, was sent to the University of Rhode Island’s Marine Geological Sample Laboratory, where scientists discovered it included a fossil megalodon tooth covered in a layer of ferromanganese. The results of the study have now been published in Historical Biology.

When reviewing the video recorded by Hercules, The researchers also realized that the tooth visibly protruding from the sand on the seamount before the ROV scooped it out. The discovery of a tooth in situ on a deep-ocean mountain or seamount helps researchers learn more about the oceanic habits of the giant shark.

“This fossil provides us with important information about the distribution of megalodon“said the study’s first author, Jürgen Pollerspöck, a researcher at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Germany.

“The sample indicates that the megalodon It was not a purely coastal species and that this species migrated across ocean basins in a manner similar to many modern species, such as the great white shark.”