9-year-old paleontologist found a giant megalodon tooth (7 photos)

9-year-old Molly Sampson is an experienced paleontologist: she and her family love spend time excavating. This Christmas they went in search of fossils in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. There Molly put record: the 12-centimeter megalodon tooth she found became the largest of over 400 finds.







9 year old girl made herself a Christmas present happens once in a lifetime. She found a big megalodon tooth while combing the beach. Maryland in search of fossils.

Molly Sampson asked her mother, Alicia Sampson, additional protection from the cold to keep warm in the water, and bravely went in search of fossils in the shallows of the Chesapeake Bay. By In her mother's words, as Molly went out in search that morning, she said, "I I'm going to look for a mega.





An artifact larger than the girl's palm belonged to megalodon over 15 meters long, lived for over 2.6 million years back. Sampson said her daughter has already found more than 400 teeth prehistoric shark, but found at Christmas 12 cm tooth became the largest of them. Sampson shared some photos, on which Molly holds her discovery, smiling from ear to ear. "My my husband has been looking for them all his life! We've always lived near the bay, so everyone our children have been searching since childhood,” she said.



“Molly begged me to buy her insulated bibs so she could go out into the cold water and look for shark teeth, ”said the mother girls. Sampson said she did not witness the find, but heard all about the opening when Molly, her eldest daughter, 17 Natalie and her husband Bruce returned home. "Molly said she wanted scream when she found a tooth because she was so excited! o- says the girl's mother. I wasn't there because I was too cold but the husband said that she began to scream: “Look what I found!” it was exactly the tartefact she had always wanted to find. Molly is very a shy child, so she doesn't like being the center of attention, but she understands that the current attention is not connected with her, but with this amazing tooth.

Molly has been hunting prehistoric artifacts since she started walk on the beach, but most of all she likes to find fossils megalodons. Molly found over 400 teeth of all types. She often says that he wants other children to see how much fun it is to explore the world, and they set out on their own adventure.

The Sampson family also shared their discovery on social media. “Molly thinks this is the best Christmas of her life,” her mom wrote in post. “She made herself the best part of her gift!” Family also shared an image of the finds all three found in Christmas day - they found a total of 22 shark teeth.



The giant tooth was taken to the Calvert Maritime Museum, where it was confirmed the authenticity of the fossil. According to representatives of the museum, Molly passed a tooth in the department of paleontology, but she will have the opportunity to admire a godsend any time she wants.

For more than a century, scientists have tried to decipher the appearance of the megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived. Scholars acknowledge that so far do not have a complete idea of what the legendary creature as it sailed the seas for approximately 15 to 3.6 million years back. In recent studies, experts argue that everything previously the proposed body shapes of the giant megalodon remain a "sphere assumptions."



However, scientists hope that the complete megalodon skeleton, which they called in advance the "greatest treasure" ever to be found, and this will let you know what it looked like.

“Permanent riddles make paleontology, the study of prehistoric life, a fascinating and exciting scientific field, says researcher Kenshu Shimada of DePaul University in Chicago. - That fact, that we still do not know exactly what the megalodon looked like, supports our imagination. We will continue to look for new clues in paleontological record".



Megalodon, whose name means "big tooth", is usually depicted asak giant monstrous shark. However, although there is no doubt that that they existed or were gigantic, megalodon (Otodus megalodon) known only from ancient fossilized teeth and vertebrae.

Based on the available data, the researchers claim that they reached a length of at least 15-20 meters. In 1843 the Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz gave this shark its original scientific name Carcharodon megalodon based on tooth remains. But even today, 150 s superfluous years later, additional fossils that could show the shape of their body, such as a complete skeleton, so far not discovered.