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The Fossil Journal

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How to Identify a Real Megalodon Tooth

A genuine Otodus megalodon tooth is a fossil between roughly 3.6 and 23 million years old: stone-heavy, finely serrated on both edges, with a dark chevron-shaped bourrelet and a porous, bilobed root. A resin cast can be poured by the dozen. This guide covers the anatomy of a real tooth, the marks of authenticity, the red flags of a fake, the honest difference between a fake and a restored tooth, safe at-home checks, and why provenance and a COA matter.

Jun 29, 2026

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River vs Beach Fossil Finds in the Lowcountry

A field guide to telling river fossil shark teeth from beach fossil shark teeth in the SC Lowcountry. Learn how fossils erode from submerged Oligocene and Miocene formations into blackwater rivers like the Cooper and Edisto, giving them deep color, smooth patina, and fine preservation, versus how surf and beach renourishment deliver smaller, more worn teeth to Folly and Edisto Beach. Includes a comparison table, the realities of collecting each, and what origin means when you buy.

Jun 29, 2026

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The Otodus Shark Lineage: Megalodon and Its Ancestors

A curator-led guide to the megatooth (Otodus) shark lineage and how to tell the species apart by their teeth. Walk the sequence from Otodus obliquus through auriculatus, angustidens, and chubutensis to megalodon as the lateral cusplets shrink and vanish, the serrations refine, and the crown broadens into a cutting blade. Includes the honest Carcharocles-vs-Otodus naming history, why megalodon was not the great white's ancestor, and South Carolina's role as Oligocene angustidens country.

Jun 29, 2026