Talk about a mega find! Scientists discover world’s first fully preserved megalodon tooth from creature that lived a 3.5 million years ago

Megalodon teeth have been found on many beaches, but scientists have discovered the first one on the deep sea floor that has been preserved for 3.5 million years.

Paleontologists at the University of Wyoming detected the three-inch tooth on a seamount more than 10,000 feet below the North Pacific near Hawaii.

The tooth is the first to be found in the deep sea, as most megalodon teeth are dredged from seafloor sediments.

Because the specimen was only partially fossilized, the team was able to see exquisite details like never before: the enamel and spongy pulp inside were still intact.

The discovery was made by accident while scientists were surveying the area with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to understand its deep-sea geology and biology.

The ROV crossed the seamount and the tooth lay among rocks, exposed 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 continent, where little or no sediment deposition occurs over long periods of time.

“It’s also possible that the teeth eroded into younger sediments, but that probably didn’t happen in this case.”

Its wickedly jagged cutting edges were still intact, suggesting that it did not break loose from the surrounding rock or fall into the ocean before being found.

Many fossilized shark teeth found on beaches around the world are softened by this process after being dislodged from whatever rock formation they were trapped in.

But in the case of this new specimen, its jagged edges tell a different story.

Part of the reason for this, the researchers wrote, was its location.

Fossils are usually formed when a dead plant or animal becomes covered by soil or sand, such as sea creatures like 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 copy of the original in rock.

This is why most fossils are found interspersed within layers of sedimentary rock formations.

However, nothing similar happened to the megalodon tooth.

It spent the last few million years perched on an underwater ridge, where ocean currents prevented sand from covering it.

Another thing made the specimen unique: only the outside of the tooth appeared fossilized.

Its tip was broken, as was its base, exposing the spongy pulp inside.

The mineral manganese had begun to become embedded in the tooth, but until now it had only partially occurred.

Typically, when manganese fossilizes a tooth whose interior is exposed, the result is simply enameloid: a hollow tooth shell.

Deep-sea worms are known to feed on the exposed pulp of shark teeth, speeding up the process.

It was impossible to know if that happened, “although the remarkably large teeth of megatooth sharks would certainly represent a large food source,” the study authors wrote.

The description of the fossil was published in the magazine. Historical biology.

According to previous research on this type of fossils, most megalodons seemed to live on the coast.

The remains of this prehistoric shark are often found in coastal rock formations.

And although this tooth was found far from land, in the middle of the Pacific, it is not the first to be found on the seabed of the open sea.

Records show that other megalodon remains have been found there.

“A possible explanation for the distribution of the localities found could be transoceanic migration,” the authors wrote.

The great white shark, which replaced the megalodon as the largest shark in the ocean, is known to migrate.

They concluded that this rare find shows how important it is to continue exploring the depths of the sea with high-tech equipment.