A fossil hunter aged just six has unearthed a four-inch tooth from one of the world’s largest prehistoric sharks.
Sammy Shelton spotted the giant canine from a megalodon dating back up to 20 million years while walking with his family on the beach at Bawdsey, Suffolk.
Only a handful of teeth from the 50 to 60ft-long creatures – three times the size of great white sharks – are found in the UK every year.
Sammy has been showing off the tooth to classmates and friends at his local Beaver Scout colony where he was made Beaver of the Week.
He said: “It looked like a tooth but it was big. I am very pleased and I will be keeping it safe.” Sammy made the find while looking for only the second time for shells and fossils on the beach.
His discovery mirrors the film The Meg, which is about scientists finding a 75ft megalodon in the Pacific.
Sammy’s retired GP father Peter, 60, from Bradwell, Norfolk, said: “It has been described as a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. It is amazing he has found something so incredible at his age.”
Sammy previously found pieces of shark teeth and fossilised sea urchins on visits to another beach at West Runton, Norfolk.
Sammy had gone to Bawdsey with his father and mother Jolene, 44, sister Robyn, five, half-sister Jessica, 30, and her two-year-old daughter Amelia.
TV scientist Ben Garrod, who has written a book on megalodons, said: “I have looked for one since I was Sammy’s age and never found one.”
He added megalodon (meaning large tooth) was the largest fish that ever existed before becoming extinct three million years ago.
