18 January 2023 , 17:13
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A giant five-inch megalodon tooth that was found by nine-year-old fossil hunter is a "once-in-a-lifetime" discovery, it's been claimed.
Molly Sampson discovered the 13cm tooth on Christmas Day while she was at Calvert Cliffs State Park in Chesapeake Bay.
She has already collected over 400 shark teeth on the coastline in Maryland, US, but the latest huge tooth actually belonged to a megalodon, which was the largest to swim the oceans.
The tooth was found in shallow water by Molly and her sister Natalie, who are both keen fossil hunters and enjoy finding historic parts of early life.
The sisters were given chest-high waders for Christmas to help them search for treasures in the shallow waters, according to their mum Alicia Sampson.
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Megalodon from prehistoric times scene 3D illustration (Getty Images/iStockphoto)They quickly went out with their dad Bruce to test out the new gifts.
They were walking down the beach when Molly said she was "looking for a Meg".
And within 30 minutes, she found what she was looking for, Alicia said.
The family took the enormous tooth to expert a curator of paleontology at Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, who said it was from a megalodon (Otodus megalodon).
Alicia said he described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime" discovery.
Megalodons formerly swam in oceans in the Neogene period (23million to 2.6million years ago).
They grew up to 65 feet long and were thought to be the fastest sharks to ever exist.
The predators became extinct after smaller, more successful great white sharks emerged.
Molly Sampson discovered a five-inch tooth, which was once in the mouth of a now-extinct megalodon shark (Calvert Marine Museum/Instagram)Mum Alicia said: "Dr Godfrey explained to Molly that the shark would've been the size of a Greyhound bus.
"Molly didn't know what that was, so she looked it up and could not believe it."
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Megalodon sharks had skeletons that did not easily become fossils.
Most of what's known about the enormous predators comes from their teeth - similar to the one Molly found - which were preserved in ancient seafloor sediments after falling out the giant sharks' mouths.
She is not the only child to find megalodon teeth, however.
Alicia Sampson recalled how her daughters, Molly, nine, and Natalie, 17, went shark tooth hunting on Christmas Day (Alicia Sampson)In May 2022, a six-year-old UK boy found a four-inch-long (10cm) megalodon tooth on a Sussex beach.
But Molly has found multiple megalodon teeth, according to .
In the last few years alone, she's found (suspected) megalodon teeth, but none as big as this one.
Alicia added: "She doesn't think she would ever find another Meg like this one."
The tide at Calvert Cliffs was exceptionally low when Molly began searching.
Her new Christmas gift allowed her enabled to wade further out than normal.
Alicia said it likely helped her to snag the massive tooth.
Her parents were hugely proud of their daughter's latest discovery and her fossil-hunting passion
"We hope that her find will inspire other kids to explore nature," Alicia said.