MEGALODON TOOTH
JAVA, MIOCENE PERIOD, 15 MILLION YEARS B.P.
African & Oceanic Art, Natural History and Ancient Art
Auction: 30 July 2025 from 14:00 BST
Description
a fine Otodus megalodon tooth, caramel coloured, bearing fine serrations
Dimensions
14.2cm long
Footnote
Believed to have grown as large as 18 metres, the Megalodon (whose name translates as “large tooth”) was the largest shark and one of the most dominant marine predators ever to have existed. It roamed the ancient seas for around 20 million years until their extinction around 3.6 million years ago.
With skeletal remains exceptionally rare, Megalodon teeth are valuable sources of study, as well as highly decorative reminders of one of the largest and most dangerous marine creatures ever to have lived.
Each specimen here displays a different hue, influenced and coloured over the millennia by the conditions in which it was preserved.