Image: Carcharodon megalodon fossil shark jaw (reconstruction) (late Cenozoic) 2

Description: Carcharodon megalodon Agassiz, 1843 fossil shark jaw (reconstructed) (public display, Newport Aquarium, northern Kentucky, USA).

Carcharodon megalodon (fondly referred to as “meg” by fossil shark lovers) is an extinct giant white shark (a.k.a. megatooth shark). Like all sharks, the skeleton was cartilaginous, and the only commonly preserved fossil remains are teeth. The teeth of this ancient giant shark had serrated edges, which function to readily slice through flesh. Estimates of original body size vary from 12 meters to >35 meters long. Fossil remains of Carcharodon megalodon are widespread in inferred warm-water marine deposits of Miocene & Pliocene age. Considering the size of megatooth sharks, their diet is inferred to have consisted principally of whales (shark tooth marks on fossil whale bones are not uncommon). Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii, Lamniformes, Carcharodontidae (or Lamnidae, or Otodontidae)

See info. at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon
Author: James St. John
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