.FossilsCatalogAuctionsGuides

The Fossil Journal

Allangustidensauthenticationauthenticitybuying guidecarcharoclescolumbian mammothcooper groupcooper river fossilsfolly beachfossil carefossil cleaningfossil collectingfossil collecting lawfossil displayfossil formationsfossil gradingfossil hunting lawsfossil identificationfossil preservationfossil shark teethhawthorn grouphobby licenseice age fossilslowcountrylowcountry fossilsmammoth teethmegalodonmegalodon teethmegalodon toothmegatooth sharksoligocene fossilsotodusotodus angustidensotodus megalodonpleistoceneprpareal vs fakescdnrsciaashark teethsouth carolina fossil huntingsouth carolina fossilssouth carolina state fossil
megalodonfossil identification

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

south carolina fossil huntingfossil hunting laws

South Carolina Fossil Hunting: Laws, Licenses & Where to Look

South Carolina is one of the best fossil states, and one of the most specific about the rules. This guide explains how the law changes by where you stand: the SCIAA hobby license for the rivers (with SCDNR on the water), what you can collect on the beach without one, private-land permission, and the federal PRPA. General information, not legal advice.

Jun 29, 2026

otodusmegalodon

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