Megalodon tooth found in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
A megalodon tooth has been found in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, measuring 5.5 inches, half an inch longer than the one found by a nine-year-old girl on Christmas Day. The tooth was found on 10 February by the captain of the fishing boat the Undertaker, Stephen Rollins, and his first mate, Jeremiah Jerry Jordan, while dredging in 20 feet of water, a mile or so south of the mouth of the Patuxent River. The tooth was hidden in a load of oysters.
Stephen Rollins was stunned by the discovery. He told McClatchy News, “We dumped the load and it just plopped down on top of the pile of oysters. I couldn’t believe it! I was stunned! It took me a second to register what I was actually looking at. I picked it up and said ‘thank you, Jesus!’ It really is a timepiece.”
Bambi Rollins, Stephen Rollins’ wife, took the tooth for analysis at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, where she learned that the tooth may be 8 million years old and was likely on the side of the shark’s jaws.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, megalodons, known as the “top predator” of their time, roamed what is now the East Coast of the US between 23 and 3.6 million years ago. They averaged 6 feet in height and were 50 feet long, although some may have spanned up to 60 feet, according to a 2019 report by Kenshu Shimada, a professor at DePaul University in Chicago.
The 5.5-inch tooth is not the biggest tooth in a megalodon’s mouth, as they get bigger toward the front of the mouth, Bambi Rollins told McClatchy News. The biggest tooth ever found was reportedly 7.48 inches and was discovered in Peru, according to FossilEra.com.
On 12 February, Bambi Rollins shared news of the discovery with the 20,800-plus members of the Workboat Life Facebook group, receiving over 1,000 comments and reactions.
This is the second megalodon tooth to be found in Maryland in recent months, with the previous tooth measuring 5 inches and discovered by a nine-year-old girl at Calvert Cliffs State Park on Christmas Day. The recent discovery by the Rollins has added to the growing collection of megalodon teeth found along the East Coast.
These ancient shark teeth are not only interesting to look at, but they also serve as important scientific specimens for understanding the history of marine life and evolution. They are also valuable to collectors and museums, with some selling for thousands of dollars.
The Rollins have not yet announced what they plan to do with their megalodon tooth, but it will undoubtedly add to the already fascinating collection of ancient marine artifacts found in the Chesapeake Bay area.