By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | January 8, 2018 07:33am ET
It took nearly 40 years, but researchers have
finally collected enough fossil teeth in Alabama to properly identify a
previously unknown species of ancient shark — one that was a possible ancestor
of megalodon,
the largest shark to ever exist.
The newly identified mega-toothed shark lived
about 83 million years ago, during the dinosaur age. Its largest tooth
discovered so far measures about 1 inch (2.7 centimeters) long, which is
substantially smaller than the 7-inch-long (17.7 cm) teeth sported by megalodon
(Carcharocles megalodon), the researchers said in a new study.
"Over time, the sharks in the megalodon
line acquire [tooth] serrations, lose their cusplets (the little 'fangs' on the
sides of the main cusp) and grow to enormous sizes," said study lead
researcher Jun Ebersole, director of collections at the McWane Science Center
in Birmingham, Alabama. The newfound shark is an early member of this family,
so its teeth are small and unserrated, with up to two pairs of cusplets, he
said. [Aahhhhh!
5 Scary Shark Myths Busted]
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