Snorkeling Teen Finds Megalodon Shark Tooth - In Michigan River

Meg Shark Tooth

PORT HURON, Mich. - David Wentz was snorkeling off Marysville Beach in the St. Clair River last August when what he thought was an odd-looking rock caught his eye. "I didn't know what to think," the 16-year-old Port Huron resident said.

His father, Craig, said he knew right away what it was due to hours of watching the Discovery Channel.

"It's a shark tooth," Craig Wentz said. "It's petrified. It's rock."

Michigan State University paleontologist Michael Gottfried told the Times Herald of Port Huron that the 3-inch long tooth comes from an extinct species called Carcharodon megalodon, or the "megatooth" shark.

The megalodon, which went extinct 2 million years ago, was larger than any building in Port Huron, reaching lengths of more than 60 feet. By comparison, Great White sharks generally are about 20 feet long.

This is a really odd place to find this fossil. It's location is blamed on humans carrying it there at some point in the past in the article.

"I suspect that it was probably carried and dropped by a human inhabitant of the region, either in recent historical times, or perhaps by earlier native people in this area," he said.

Pretty cool....things that make you go mmmmmm

No clue on the geographics of Michigan or the river, but 2 million years ago.... could be hard to speculate on how much water was or wasn't there.

I think its quite possible to find something like this in an otherwise un-heard of spot.

Nice article.

Man, lucky dude... But he could smile a bit more though.. I would be more like "Oh yeah baby!!!" ^^

Wow! Those things go for big $$$$ and by the looks of this one it would fetch top dinero!

Certainly doesnt sound like a likely place, but like has already been mentioned, there could've been much more water there millions of years ago.

Originally posted by jbondo
Wow! Those things go for big $$$$ and by the looks of this one it would fetch top dinero!

A 3 inch specimin wouldnt fetch that much, its the 5-6+ inch ones that fetch big amounts.

Actually someone found a pretty recent Megeledon (sp) tooth and a couple fishermen saw a large white shark as big as the pier they were standing on. ( 115 feet! ) Could there be a megeledon that survived extinction?

reply to post by BeingFollowed


The condition has a great deal to do with it and his looks to be in pristine condition. Also, I'm not talking about a million dollars here.

I can't speak for Michigan, but around here, here being Florida, it's fairly common to find fossil megalodon teeth in rivers. A good chunk of the U.S.used to be under water, forming shallow, warm, seas that the meg probably favored due to the large population of critters that were able to flourish in them. Meg teeth ar fairly common due to this. And you have no idea how hard it is to type using the PS3 browser and controller. The thing's beyond counter intuitive...

Originally posted by jbondo
reply to post by BeingFollowed

 

The condition has a great deal to do with it and his looks to be in pristine condition. Also, I'm not talking about a million dollars here.

Im aware of condition being a big part, but from the pic I cant say whether the condition is that ood or not. And I guessed you didnt mean a million dollars

Megaladon....You think of something big already. There is alot of speculation about if they could of survived. And by all accounts its possible. The megamouth shark was only officially found it 1970s-1980s so anythings possible. But there are so many things to take into consideration such as location, dangers, prey, heck maybe even predators! Ever heard of bloop? A sound detected by a Us Sub. Nothing like a submarine or any submersible item ever recorded. I think it could be a montrous fish navigating the earth. But it probably was a rock falling.

Nice Tooth! Why would you sell it? I'd keep it and case it. Beautiful tooth
I wanna go shark tooth hunting now! hehe

Deny ignorance

Semoro

runespider is dead on.

Most of the midwest was a shallow inland sea back when megalodon was around. not at all strange that one would find a megalodon fossil there. in fact megalodon fossils are the most commonly found fossils in the world. sharks shed a lot of teeth.

Originally posted by Semoro

I wanna go shark tooth hunting now

snorkle at the Cape Fear river outside of Wilmington NC

whenever there's a strong 'Nor-Easter' it usually blows a lot of
neat stuff on the beaches soiuth of the CapeFear...

fossilized megladon teeth, mastadon teeth, even spearpoints used
(I guess) for spearing fish...along the coast. I've found them all
on local beaches here in SC


As far as Michigan & the megladon tooth... its an either-or proposition...

either the tooth found its way into the local ecology by accident or it is actually an indigenous tooth from many millions of years ago, even before the last ice age which carved out the great lakes.
neither idea is too outrageous to be true.



[here's an idea for the owner]- - the black megladon tooth i found at
Surfside Beach, i took a high speed moto tool with a hard tungston cutting bit...and did a 'scrimshaw' of a sailship with the Sails all billowing,
and presented to my son as a 'keepsake'... which he still has.
Drilling a hole for the neckchain was the most difficult part,
as the specimen was fossilized...not fresh & colored like the tooth pictured in the thread.

Haha i would but i live in Nz ^^
Hmm i wish we could find something as big as the megaladon and something as cool hehe. Any areasyou know in nz?

Deny ignorance

Semoro

Originally posted by RuneSpider
I can't speak for Michigan, but around here, here being Florida, it's fairly common to find fossil megalodon teeth in rivers. A good chunk of the U.S.used to be under water, forming shallow, warm, seas that the meg probably favored due to the large population of critters that were able to flourish in them. Meg teeth ar fairly common due to this. And you have no idea how hard it is to type using the PS3 browser and controller. The thing's beyond counter intuitive...

Yea, from Florida aswell. My dad and I have a nice size fossil collection of stuff we've found along river banks, didn't know there were camels that were native to florida during the ice age. Also, when using the PS3, use a USB keyboard, makes life much easier.

reply to post by FSBlueApocalypse


Cool man, and the keyboard only hlps mildly. Misses a lot fo the keys, and generally ignores the shift key.

You know I don't know the whole idea of someone dropping it long ago, as far as I know the only place that these teeth are commonly found is venice beach florida, please let me know if you know of other places. What happens is there was a large body of water or even open ocean that got land locked a long time ago and sharks died by the number. Their teeth fossilize and can be found by sifting in the sand. I found a bunch of cool teeth when I went to venice beach no whoppers though.

I guess what I am saying is that as far as I know the only place in north america these are found is florida. Could it be that a florida native dropped it in michigan long ago????? Very interesting and a awesome find!

Oh thats interesting. 2 Million + years, who knows how much water was over Michigan at the time or even the size of the US at the time. Couldve been a fraction, although unlikely, of what it is now.

reply to post by RuneSpider

Haha, I agree that its near impossible.

I've seen a tooth about three times that size for sale at an antique store. I believe it was about $450.00 but had a chip in it. It was dark also but looked more like a sharks tooth than the one pictured.