Nine-year-old girl 'looking for a Meg' finds megalodon shark tooth on Maryland beach

A nine-year-old girl found a rare fossilat a Maryland beach on Christmas Day that experts describes as a "once-in-a-lifetime kind of find". Molly Sampson visited the Calvert Beach and told her mother she was "looking for a Meg".

She waded in knee-deep waters and to her luck found exactly what she was looking for: a tooth belonging to Otodus megalodon shark species, which is now extinct. It was five inches long, her mother Alicia Sampson wrote on Facebook, informing about the prized find.

The megalodon, an ancient Greek term for "big tooth", went extinct a whopping 3.5 million years ago. During its time, it used to live in seas across the world.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

At more than 66 feet (20m) long, the species was the biggest shark in the world. It was also one of the largest fish ever to live.

Also Read |Super rare ‘walking shark’ discovered in Papua New Guinea, scientists baffled

Meg's mother wrote on Facebook that her daughters, Molly and Natalie, had expressed the desire to "go sharks tooth hunting like professionals". The two even asked for insulated chest waders as a Christmas present.

On Christmas morning, both of them went to the shores of nearby Calvert Cliffs with their father, she told CBS News.

"She told me she was wading in knee deep water when she saw it and dove in to get it," her mother said. "She said she got her arms all wet, but it was so worth it."

Molly is no strangerto such discovering. She has found over 400 much smaller teeth till date, but she had never found such a large tooth. In fact, her father also used to hunt fossils in the area as a kid.

"She has always wanted to find a 'Meg', but for whatever reason, she spoke it into existence on Christmas morning," her mother told CBS.

The paleontology department at the Calvert Marine Museum confirmed the shark's identity and congratulated the "future paleontologist" on Facebook.

"People should not get the impression that teeth like this one are common along Calvert Cliffs," Stephen Godfrey, the museum's curator of paleontology, said.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.