However, the only remains of the fearsome shark that dominated the oceans between 23 and 3.6 million years ago are rare fossilized teeth and some vertebrae. Like other sharks, Megalodon’s skeleton, including its jaw, was composed of lightweight cartilage that decomposed rapidly after death. On the other hand, Perez says that tooth enamel “retains very well.” “This is probably the most structurally stable thing in living things.”
Like most sharks, the megalodon had rows of teeth in its jaws, and its front teeth fell out over time and were replaced by sharp new teeth. Over the course of their lives, megalodons have lost thousands of teeth, leaving traces of countless species in the fossil record.
The most widely accepted method for estimating megalodon length uses the white shark as a modern proxy and assumes a ratio of tooth size to total body length.
Although the great white shark and megalodon belonged to different families, they had a lifestyle similar to that of apex predators with broad, triangular teeth like carving knives—perfect adaptations for hunting large, fat marine mammals such as dolphins and whales.
But there’s a problem with this method: To get an estimate of body size, researchers have to determine the exact position the fossil tooth took in the megalodon’s jaw. Like humans, shark teeth vary in size and shape according to their location in the jaw, and megalodon teeth are usually found as separate fossils, making their exact location in the jaw difficult.
Perez was thrilled when fossil collector Gordon Hubel donated a nearly complete set of teeth from the same megalodon to the Florida Museum in 2015, greatly reducing the guesswork for correct placement.
(Read below the picture)
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