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I'm no paleontologist but I believe the megalodon continuously shed and replaced their teeth like modern sharks. Some extant species are known to replace all of
by akiselev 3y ago
I'm no paleontologist but I believe the megalodon continuously shed and replaced their teeth like modern sharks. Some extant species are known to replace all of their teeth on a monthly basis so if the megalodon replaced them that fast, a single shark would produce thousands of teeth a year. For over fifteen million years.
Due to their shape and density, they were also more likely to quickly sink into sediment and avoid decomposition entirely. Then when the Pacific plate interacted with the North American plate, all of that ocean sediment was lifted up to form California.
They're actually relatively uncommon on the west coast compared to the East coast (the Carolinas especially). Sharktooth hill has lots more fossils of seals, sea lions, turtles, birds, whales, and other marine life.
- saghm 3y ago> Sharktooth hill has lots more fossils of seals, sea lions, turtles, birds, whales, and other marine life. I guess it must have been named because even a smaller number of shark teeth is less common than those other fossils in the area?
- akiselev 3y agoI mean the megalodon specifically - likely a much bigger population lived in the Atlantic than the Pacific. I think miscellaneous shark teeth are the most common fossil at Sharktooth Hill, they're just not as big or interesting as the megalodon teeth because they're difficult for a layman to age. Most megalodon teeth are obvious due to their size and most people are happy with a 5-25 Mya estimate.
- permo-w 3y agoalso presumably because shark teeth are exciting
- n3storm 3y agoI bet the name is because is because shark tooth is what somebody can recognise better. "Is this a seal or a fox skull?"