Megalodon-mania: Teeth from massive ancient shark up for auction in Saint John

Isabelle Leger · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A Saint John auction location has opened online bidding connected a postulation of megalodon shark teeth that are millions of years old.

Sarah Jones, curator astatine Jones Auction House, said interest has already picked up for the teeth of the extinct species, which lived about 3.6 cardinal to 23 cardinal to years ago. 

Since the auction opened earlier this week, "the teeth person benignant of taken off, astir of them are wrong oregon supra the estimated scope already," said Jones. 

The postulation includes six fossilized teeth that scope successful size and shape, with a starting bid of $300. As of Wednesday evening, the highest bid was up to $1,000. 

Jones said the teeth scope successful size from 7.6 centimetres to astir 15 centimetres (three to six inches) successful length. And the textures scope from a polished decorativeness to a much earthy state.

"The teeth are immense due to the fact that the sharks themselves were insanely massive," said Jones. 

"Some of them person barnacles and corals attached," she said, and they are assorted shades of brown, grey and black. 

WATCH | See each six megalodon teeth up for bid:

The megalodon taxon was known for its elephantine size. A caller survey suggests the shark had a slender assemblage up to 24 metres successful length, weighing up to 94 tonnes. 

In comparison, large achromatic sharks tin turn up to six metres long and measurement arsenic overmuch arsenic 1.8 tonnes. 

"These sharks would shed their teeth successful the aforesaid mode that modern-day sharks do, truthful megalodon teeth are a comparatively communal fossil specimen," said Jones. 

"Usually the larger the bony and the better-preserved it is, the much invaluable it is." 

Megalodon teeth are the 1 of the astir communal fossilized remains of the species because the remainder of their assemblage is cartilage, which doesn't fossilize good and would disintegrate implicit time.  

Jones said these megalodon teeth came from a New Brunswick collector. 

"He has a massive, monolithic postulation of earthy past specimens and has been collecting megalodon teeth for decades." 

"He's a well-established and respected and knowledgeable expert, truthful helium knows what he's doing." 

Jones said the New Brunswick collector selling the teeth got them from North Carolina.

"This collector has connections with the existent divers who volition spell down and find these and bring them up," she said.  

Jones said the auction location usually handles artwork and luxury items, including watches and decorator handbags, and this is the archetypal clip it puts fossils up for auction.

"That's what makes it truthful peculiar for us."

The auction closes connected March 30.