Specimen P 161582 Research Focus, Bayside Fossils - False Mako Shark tooth, Parotodus benedenii

Summary

This fossil tooth from Beaumaris belonged to one of the most mysterious species of extinct sharks, Parotodus benedenii. Fossil teeth of this shark have been found worldwide, but they are only rarely discovered compared with teeth of other sharks. The size of the teeth of Parotodus indicate that adults could have reached the same length as the living white shark Carcharodon carcharias, or even longer (about 7 metres).

The evolutionary classification of Parotodus is uncertain, although some palaeontologists have suggested Parotodus is closely related to the more infamous Carcharocles megalodon. Parotodus survived until the Pleistocene.