Massive shark tooth found on ocean floor likely millions of years old, researchers say

A massive shark tooth scooped from the central Pacific Ocean floor is likely millions of years old, researchers said.

The tooth was found a little more than 10,000 feet deep “on an unnamed seamount within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument,” explorers with Nautilus Live wrote in an Oct. 5 Facebook.

“We believe it belonged to the infamous extinct megalodon, but only time (and further lab analysis) will tell,” the post said.

Explorers made the discovery during an Ocean Exploration Trust expedition to Johnston Atoll with Pacific Islands: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while examining nodule samples with ferromanganese coating, researchers said.

The “unincorporated territory of the United States (is) in the central Pacific Ocean, about 825 miles southwest of Honolulu,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Now, University of Rhode Island researchers Katie Kelley and Rebecca Robinson, “who spotted this fossil after removing the rocky coating for analysis,” will confirm the tooth’s identification, the post said.

“The expeditions on Nautilus are only the beginning of exploration as samples are processed and analyzed for years after the ship returns to port,” the post said.

The megalodon, “the largest shark ever to prowl the oceans and one of the largest fish on record,” went extinct millions of years ago, according to Live Science.

“All signs of the creature’s existence ended 2.6 million years ago,” researchers said, according to Live Science.

The otodus megalodon, or giant tooth, had teeth that were “almost three times larger than teeth of a modern great white shark,” Live Science said.

Ocean Exploration Trust was founded in 2008 by Robert Ballard to explore the ocean with the Nautilus, a 210-foot research vessel, according to Nautilus Live’s Facebook page.

Giant tooth found on SC beach fuels speculation: What kind of creature lost it?

This ancient shark’s tooth was an odd shape. NC researchers try solving the mystery

‘Once in a lifetime find,’ Boy finds massive, extinct shark tooth on SC vacation. Check it out