[dryrun]

Why are they common there? From a Google search, they are supposed to have 278 teeth. Make it 300 if you will. Given the time we've known for this place, I would assume that even if there were 10 megalodon sharks dead there, the 3000 teeth would be long gone! Is this a cemetery for sharks? Was there like a giant megalodon pond that went dry?

[akiselev]

I'm no paleontologist but I believe the megalodon continuously shed and replaced their teeth like modern sharks. Some extant species are known to replace all of their teeth on a monthly basis so if the megalodon replaced them that fast, a single shark would produce thousands of teeth a year. For over fifteen million years.

Due to their shape and density, they were also more likely to quickly sink into sediment and avoid decomposition entirely. Then when the Pacific plate interacted with the North American plate, all of that ocean sediment was lifted up to form California.

They're actually relatively uncommon on the west coast compared to the East coast (the Carolinas especially). Sharktooth hill has lots more fossils of seals, sea lions, turtles, birds, whales, and other marine life.

[saghm]

> Sharktooth hill has lots more fossils of seals, sea lions, turtles, birds, whales, and other marine life.

I guess it must have been named because even a smaller number of shark teeth is less common than those other fossils in the area?

[akiselev]

I mean the megalodon specifically - likely a much bigger population lived in the Atlantic than the Pacific.

I think miscellaneous shark teeth are the most common fossil at Sharktooth Hill, they're just not as big or interesting as the megalodon teeth because they're difficult for a layman to age. Most megalodon teeth are obvious due to their size and most people are happy with a 5-25 Mya estimate.

[permo-w]

also presumably because shark teeth are exciting

[n3storm]

I bet the name is because is because shark tooth is what somebody can recognise better. "Is this a seal or a fox skull?"

[s1artibartfast]

It sounds like there are significantly more. Time adds up.

Think of it this way. Megaladon existed for ~20 million years. If one died in this area every year, you would have 5.6 billion teeth

[dharmab]

Unlike humans, sharks continuously grow new teeth throughout their lives! https://www.scientificamerican.com/gallery/sharks-never-run-...

[falcor84]

I for one hope to grow new teeth when I'm older - see post from two days ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36563590