JAWS-RUSALEM: 80 MILLION YEAR OLD SHARKS TEETH FOUND

Mystery surrounds the discovery of fossilised shark teeth that have been discovered in the City of David, Jerusalem.

Scientists came across the unexpected find some 80 km from where they would normally expect to find them. Age wise, the site is 2,900 years old but the teeth themselves are some 80 million years old.

Jesus H. Christ, that puts this jaws-some find as dating from the Late Cretaceous period, which is the time of the dinosaurs.

A fossilized Squalicorax tooth found in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem's City of David (© Omri Lernau)

Analysis doesn't suggest they were used as tool or worn as jewelry, so perhaps they were part of an ancient fin-atics shark collection.

Artist’s impression of a Squalicorax shark (Dmitry Bogdanov / Wikipedia)

But what species of shark do the teeth come from? The shark teeth have been identified as coming from several species, including the now extinct Late Cretaceous group Squalicorax, which grew to between two and five metres long.

Words Dean Newman

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