Molly Sampson, a nine-year-old 4th grader from Prince Frederick, Maryland, discovered the breakthrough of a lifetime while spending time at Calvert Beach on Christmas morning. This aspiring paleontologist enjoys scouring Maryland beaches for shark teeth because, as she says, “They’re just cool because they’re really old.” Sweet Molly inherited her passion for fossils from her father. “She loves treasure hunting,” Molly’s mother, Alicia Sampson, said of her daughter.
Over the years, Molly has collected more than 400 fossilized shark teeth, but her recent discovery is so fascinating that her story went viral in a matter of days. Namely, this fossil hunter found a massive 5-inch-long rodent belonging to a megalodon, the largest shark to ever swim in Earth’s oceans. The family took the huge tooth to Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomon, who confirmed that Molly’s unique find belonged to a megalodon. “Dr. Godfrey told Molly the shark would have been the size of a Greyhound bus,” Alicia said. “Molly didn’t know what it was, so she looked it up and couldn’t believe it.” Speaking about the moment she spotted the tooth, Molly told NPR: “I walked over and in my head I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s the biggest tooth I’ve ever seen ! » She then added: “I reached out and grabbed him, and dad said I was screaming.
According to Godfrey, the tooth Molly found came from the left upper jaw of a megalodon that was probably 45 to 50 feet long and lived about 15 million years ago. “It basically evolved these types of teeth to be able to cut up pieces, just like great white sharks do,” Godfrey explains. “They sort of chew the carcass of their prey” rather than swallowing it whole. The name “Megalodon” includes two Greek words that translate to “giant tooth,” and the one Molly found measures the size of her hand. As Molly’s story spread, her family decided to use her to remind young children like their daughter about the importance of spending more time in nature. “We really want to reach other kids and get them excited about being outside,” Alicia said.
