Fossil seeker Shane Gowlett has dug up a real treasure.
Jaws' ancestor - Shane Gowlett with his 25 million-year-old tooth
Mr Gowlett, 22, has unearthed a 25 million-year-old giant shark's tooth while scouring the beach at Walton's Naze - a well-known palaeontologists' treasure chest.
It could be worth a small fortune. Mr Gowlett, of Stansted Way, Frinton, said: "I was overjoyed."
The tooth of the Carcharodon Megalodon is perhaps the most sought after fossil tooth, say Naze experts. The shark was one of the largest ever to have lived and is thought to have been more than 40ft in length.
The tooth is believed to have been washed out of the cliffs by the waves. Mr Gowlett, who has already a host of whale bones, said he had been told the shark's tooth could fetch between £4,000 and £4,500 but he has no intention of selling it.
Published Monday, September 6, 2004
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