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'Bigger than anything we've ever seen': Crystal hunter shocked after finding rare ancient shark tooth
By Raffaella Ciccarelli • Senior Producer
9:12am Apr 21, 2023
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A crystal hunter in Canada couldn't believe her luck when what she thought was a stone turned out to be a fossiled shark tooth belonging to an ancestor of the megalodon, one of the largest carnivores to ever live.
Rachel Shill Cook was rock-hunting with her stepdaughter Addison along Nechako River, west of Prince George in British Columbia when she made the discovery.
Cook told
9news.com.au an ancient shark tooth is the last thing they expected to find in the frozen wild.
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The area near where the shark tooth was found. (Supplied)
Rachel Shill Cook initially thought the ancient tooth was an 'interesting stone'. (Supplied)
"We decided to spend some time down by the nearby river to look for agates," she said.
"With spring finally in full swing, we thought we could take advantage of the low water level to see if we could find anything interesting.
"We noticed what we thought was an interesting stone so I went to the riverbed to dig it out. That's when we noticed it wasn't a rock at all. Addison and I stared at it and we made a comment that it looked like a shark tooth.
"Only bigger than anything we have ever seen before."
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Cook posted their find to The Fossil Forum where users identified it as an Otodus obliquus tooth.
The species is the oldest ancestor of the megalodon.
READ MORE: The species that may have driven megalodon to extinction
Rachel Shill Cook and Addison were hunting for agates when they made the rare find. (Supplied)
Megalodons were colossal sharks that lived an estimated 23 million to 2.6 million years ago.
From nose to tail they are said to have measured around 16 metres.
Teeth from the
otodus obliquus are typically found in Morocco, which makes Cook's find a rare one indeed.
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Megalodon sharks could reach up to three times the size of the largest great white ever recorded. (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock)
A fifteen centimetre megalodon tooth dwarfs the five centimetre great white tooth next to it. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
"I have had theories given to me about it getting lost as a trinket with a local indigenous tribe from long ago. Or, I had a paleontologist tell me that although Central BC was never under ocean water it could have hitched a ride on a glacier thousands of years ago," she said.
"Those are my two personal favorite theories.
"I'm sure there are many more. Needless to say, this new area Addison and I found will likely be our new favourite place for the remainder of the year."
Cook said the find has well eclipsed any crystal she has ever found.
"The tooth has certainly set the bar pretty high now so looking for pretty rocks might not have the same excitement it used to," she said.
"But it's not going to stop us from looking."
She's now considering what to do with the ancient find.
"We aren't quite sure what we will be doing with it," Cook said.
"I've had a few collectors reach out offering to give it a new forever home, or perhaps it will go to a museum for others to enjoy.
"Addison wants to display it in our home for our friends and family to enjoy, so time will tell what the next chapter of the tooth will be."
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