Megalodon left an awful lot of teeth behind, but don't worry. It is likely that it had plenty of extras. Like modern sharks, Megalodon had several rows of teeth. Scientists believe that Megalodon had six rows of 7-inch-wide, razor-sharp teeth, top and bottom, for a total of 276 teeth in its giant jaws! It's no wonder, then, that this ancient shark left so many of them behind. Without this trail of teeth, we would not know that these enormous creatures swam the ancient oceans as a top predator. Select two sentences from below that best show that the author wants the reader to be able to relate Megalodon's size to everyday life A. What would you expect a creature whose name means “big tooth” to look like?
B. The Megalodon shark deserves this title.
C. As the Greek roots mega- (“big”) and don (“tooth”) suggest, this awesome prehistoric creature certainly did have huge teeth—as well as a massive and powerful body.
D. Scientists estimate that these gigantic sharks stretched as long as 60 feet.
E. If you're having trouble imagining that, just think of a school bus, typically about 45 feet in length.
F. Now, imagine a shark just a bit larger than that school bus—with 7-inch teeth.
G. Yes, this ancient fish certainly earned the prefix mega!
H. Since these sharks are extinct, how do we know exactly how huge and powerful the Megalodon shark was?