File:Carcharodon megalodon fossil shark tooth (upper Cenozoic; Eastern Seaboard of America).jpg

English: Carcharodon megalodon Agassiz, 1843 - fossil shark tooth from the late Cenozoic of eastern America. (centimeter scale)

This specimen has a worn tooth tip (apex) & some abraded serrations. This is the labial surface (facial surface) of the tooth - the side facing outward. Labial surfaces of shark teeth tend to be flattish. The opposite side, the lingual side (the side facing the tongue) tends to be convex. The dark-colored lower quarter of the tooth represents the root; everything above is the crown.

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Carcharodon megalodon (fondly referred to as “meg” by fossil shark lovers) is an extinct giant white shark (a.k.a. megatooth shark). Like all sharks, the skeleton was cartilaginous, and the only commonly preserved fossil remains are teeth. The teeth of this ancient giant shark had serrated edges, which function to readily slice through flesh. Estimates of original body size vary from 12 meters to >35 meters long.

Fossil remains of Carcharodon megalodon are widespread in inferred warm-water marine deposits of Miocene & Pliocene age. Considering the size of megatooth sharks, their diet is inferred to have consisted principally of whales (shark tooth marks on fossil whale bones are not uncommon).

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii, Lamniformes, Carcharodontidae (or Lamnidae, or Otodontidae)

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See info. at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon