Scientists have discovered the first preserved megalodon tooth in the extinct creature’s natural habitat.
Paleontologists at the University of Wyoming spotted the 3.5million-year-old tooth lying on a seamount more than 10,000 feet below the North Pacific near Hawaii.
The three-inch tooth is the first to be found deep in the sea, as most megalodon teeth are dredged from seafloor sediment.
Because the specimen was only partially fossilized, the team could see exquisite details like never before – the enamel and spongy pulp inside were still intact.
Scientists were using a remotely operated vehicle to explore the sea floor, when they spotted the megalodon tooth on their video feed
The tooth turned out to be broken but well preserved. It still had its serrated edges, and even some enamel
The discovery was made by accident as scientists surveyed the area with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to understand its deep-sea geology and biology.
The ROV came across the seamount, and the tooth was lying among rocks, uncovered and undisturbed.
Tyler Greenfield, a paleontologist at the University of Wyoming, shared: ‘There are areas of the seafloor, especially deep ocean basins far from the mainland, where little to no sediment deposition occurs for long periods of time.
‘It’s also possible for teeth to be eroded out and reworked into younger sediments, but that probably didn’t happen in this case.’
Its wickedly serrated cutting edges were still intact, suggesting that it did not get dislodged from the surrounding rock and tumbled around in the ocean before being found.
Many fossilized shark teeth found on beaches worldwide are smoothed down from this process after they are dislodged from whatever rock formation they were trapped in.
But in the case of this new specimen, its ragged edges tell a different story.
Part of the reason for this, the researchers wrote, was its location.
Fossils usually form when a dead plant or animal gets covered up by soil – or sand, like sea creatures like the megalodon.
As more and more layers of sediment accumulate over the body, minerals replace bones or cell walls and turn the remains into a perfect rock copy of the original.
This is why most fossils are found sandwiched within the layers of sedimentary rock formations.
Nothing like this happened to the megalodon tooth, though.
It spent the past few million years perched atop an undersea ridge, where ocean currents prevented sand from covering it up.
Another thing made the specimen unique: Only the outside of the tooth appeared to be fossilized.
Its tip was broken off, as was its base, exposing the spongy pulp inside.
The mineral manganese had begun encrusting the tooth, but it had only happened partly so far.
Detailed images of the tooth show (A) the enamel; (B) the broken tip with a cavity in it; (C) the mineral manganese crusting on the exposed pulp; and (D) the intact serrated edge
Usually, when manganese fossilizes a tooth whose insides are exposed, the result is just the enameloid – a hollow tooth shell.
Deep sea worms have been known to feed on the exposed pulp of shark teeth, which speeds up the process.
It was impossible to tell if that happened, ‘although the notably large teeth of megatooth sharks would certainly pose a great food source,’ wrote the study’s authors.
The fossil description was published in the journal Historical Biology.
According to past research on such fossils, most megalodons seemed to live on the coast.
The remains of this prehistoric shark are usually found in coastal rock formations.
And even though this tooth was found far from dry land, in the middle of the Pacific, it isn’t the first one to be found on the seafloor of the open ocean.
Records show that other megalodon remains have been found there.
‘A possible explanation of the finding localities’ distribution could be transoceanic migration,’ the authors wrote.
The great white shark, which replaced the megalodon as the ocean’s largest shark, has been known to migrate.
They concluded that this rare finding shows how important it is to keep exploring the deep sea with high-tech equipment.
