9-year-old girl discovers a megalodon shark tooth on Maryland beach

• Megalodon existed for at least 3.5 million years before going extinct.
• The rare and the ancient are the things that amateur fossil hunters hope to unearth.
• The curator of a nearby marine museum described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime kind of find.”

The rare and the ancient are the things that amateur fossil hunters hope to unearth. One young girl created it using her voice.

Nine-year-old Molly Sampson informed her mother she was “searching for a Meg” when visiting Calvert Beach in Maryland on Christmas Day.

That’s exactly what she discovered while wading into knee-deep water: a tooth from the now-extinct Otodus megalodon shark species.

The curator of a nearby marine museum described it as a “once-in-a-lifetime kind of find.”

Megalodon, which is Greek for “great teeth,” was a marine mammal that existed for at least 3.5 million years before going extinct.

The species was not only the largest shark in the world, but also one of the largest fish ever to exist, growing to a length of more than 66 feet (20 metres).

According to her mother Alicia Sampson, who posted the discovery on Facebook, the tooth Molly discovered was 5in long and the size of her hand.

Molly and Natalie Sampson wanted to “go sharks tooth hunting like experts,” according to Mrs. Sampson, and they requested insulated chest waders for Christmas.

Mrs. Sampson described her daughter’s discovery, saying, “She told me she was swimming in knee deep water when she saw it and dove in to collect it.” She claimed to have gotten her arms wet but it was so worth it.”

Molly had discovered over 400 considerably smaller teeth on her own, and her husband had been looking for fossils in the area since he was a young boy, but neither had ever ever across a tooth this size.

She has always wanted to locate a “Meg,” but for some reason, Mrs. Sampson told CBS, “she spoke it into being on Christmas morning.”

The family brought the teeth to the Calvert Marine Museum, where the palaeontology division identified the shark and posted a Facebook message of congratulations to the “future palaeontologist.”

Stephen Godfrey, the palaeontology curator of the museum, warned that people shouldn’t assume that teeth like this one are typical along Calvert Cliffs.

And she didn’t have to go deep within the rocks for the tooth because it was out in the water.

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