Huge shark teeth have begun emerging from Chile’s Atacama desert. Paleontologists have confirmed they are from giant Megalodon sharks, made famous in the Hollywood movie The Meg.
The teeth are the biggest ever found, and came from sharks 16m long (52ft) that preyed on whales and were capable of wrenching off hundreds of kilos of meat in a single bite.
The remains of the prehistoric shark – the name literally means Big Teeth – date back eight million years.
Pablo Quilodran from Atacama Paleontology and Natural History Research said the remains were found in the desert as sea levels have changed over millions of years.
“This is visible not only in the abundant marine fossils found in sediments today, but we can also see natural esplanades, which are ancient marine terraces that testify to these different sea levels.
“In short, the sea has receded, but the ground has also risen as a result of earthquakes and subduction of plates, phenomena that we Chileans know and experience so well,” he said.
The implications are huge for science. “The unusual abundance of megalodon remains opens up expectations for new knowledge about many aspects of ancient life regarding this remarkable species of shark,” Quilodran added.
“For example, what and how did it eat? New estimates of body size, growth speed, whether it was solitary or gregarious, internal temperature and paleo-environmental data, are among many other topics that may be addressed.”
Scientists believe the teeth will confirm that the megalodon became extinct as as result of climate change two million years ago.