Genuine Prehistoric Fossil Tooth — MEG 3.77" in Matrix , Bakersfield CA

This is a fossilized Otodus megalodon tooth, measuring 3.77 inches, still set in its original matrix from Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield, California, one of the richest fossil sites in the world. The same block also holds a fossil Galeocerdo aduncus tooth, a tiny fossil shark tooth, and several pieces of fossil bone. The megalodon tooth has sharp, clean serrations down most of the blade, with a small natural chip at the tip and a few serrations missing nearby.

About 15 million years ago, during the Middle Miocene, the southern San Joaquin Valley lay under a warm, shallow sea full of prehistoric marine life. Sediment settled very slowly on that seafloor, so teeth and bone built up over a long period and formed the famous Sharktooth Hill Bone Bed in the Round Mountain Silt. Today the site sits well inland in the foothills east of Bakersfield, and specimens like this are dug by hand from those ancient seafloor layers.

The tooth survived as a fossil because it was dense and coated in enamel. Megalodon's skeleton was cartilage, which broke down soon after death. Sharktooth Hill fossils are known for their warm brown, gray, and tan tones, and keeping this piece in matrix with the other fossils shows how these extinct species were buried together millions of years ago.