5 inches Megalodon (carcharocles) miocene/pliocene USA

Megalodon, meaning “big tooth” is an extinct species of shark that lived approx 23-3.6 million years ago during the early Miocene to the Pliocene. Megalodon is the biggest sharks that have ever lived and dominated the oceans over 20 million years ago. The Megaladon could reach up to lengths of between 15 and 18 metres in length and its enormous teeth could be as big as 18cm long hence the meaning “large tooth”.Megalodon was able to open its mouth wide so it could tackle prey as large as whales, it is estimate that Megalodons mouth could span at least 3mtrs, enough to swallow 2 fully grown adults side by side without much effort at all. Megalodons jaws would hold up to 276 teeth and its bite force has been estimated at approx 160,000 Newton’s, if you consider the modern day great white shark has the bite force of approx 18,000 Newton’s. The Megalodon is thought to be the most powerful predator that has ever existed. This tooth is not the largest of meg teeth but it is truly a A-grade tooth from the Largest shark that ever lived

Location- Shallow tropical shelf regions of all continents except Antarctica. Commonly- Coast of California, coasts of Australia and Asia.

Period- Miocene Epoch- end of Pliocene Epoch (23.03-2.58 million years ago)

Size- largest specimen measures 17.9 metres (58.7 feet) some scientists estimate lengths upto possibly 25 metres (82 feet)

weight- max estimation 65 metric tons.

Predators- none

Type- Predator/ active hunter

Food- anything it could bite/ similar to the behaviour of modern great whites but bigger.