Over time, the smaller teeth in the back move up, replacing the front ones. Most sharks have between 5-15 rows, and the whale shark has a whopping 3,000 teeth in its mouth!
Sharks have thousands of teeth.
Most sharks have 5 rows of teeth, and can have as many as 3000 teeth at once! It's a good thing sharks never run out of teeth, as they lose up to 100 per day.
Whale sharks have 3,000 tiny teeth – these teeth aren't for chewing, but instead are used to filter their food. Shark teeth are sharp enough that they were used as tools by ancient humans so they could hunt their food!
Whale Shark Fact #6: Whale sharks have about 3,000 tiny teeth (less than 6mm long) but they don't use those teeth to eat.
On average, sharks have fifteen rows and five series of teeth, so up to 300 teeth at any one time. However, some sharks have many, many more teeth. Bull sharks can have seven series and up to fifty rows of teeth – so around 350 teeth at once which makes them even more formidable.
Some sharks can have up to 50,000 teeth over the course of their entire lives.
Megalodon had 46 front row teeth, 24 in the upper jaw and 22 in the lower. Most sharks have at least six rows of teeth, so a Megalodon had about 276 teeth at any given time. Megalodon was about 60 feet long with a body mass of about 77 tons.
What is the largest shark tooth ever found? The largest shark tooth ever discovered has a slant height of 7.48 inches (18.9 cm) and belongs to a megalodon. It was found fragmented in the Ocucaje desert of Peru by Craig Sundell.
The megamouth shark gets its name from the remarkably large, circular mouth. On an individual approximately 16 feet in length (5 m), the mouth is approximately four feet across (1.3 m).
The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is the largest fish in the world.
Sharks do not rely on two sets of teeth – they have an endless supply of teeth, with a dentition that regenerates constantly throughout life. In some sharks, a new set of teeth develops every two weeks!
Overall, sharks do have tongues, but they are not like the tongues of humans or other mammals. Sharks use their tongues mainly for feeding and swallowing, and they do not use them for taste in the same way that mammals do.
Some sharks such as the nurse shark have spiracles that force water across their gills allowing for stationary rest. Sharks do not sleep like humans do, but instead have active and restful periods.
Sharks have a 'conveyor belt' of teeth within their jaws, so when a tooth is lost it can be replaced - sometimes within an hour. They develop multiple sets of these teeth over their lifetimes.
Megalodon teeth can be up to 7 inches long and were specialized for feeding on large, fleshy prey, such as whales and dolphins.
Because sand tiger sharks swim near the shoreline, there are more sightings of these sharks than most species. Sand tiger sharks are also known by the name gray nurse sharks or ragged-tooth shark. The latter name is a descriptive name for sure. Their mouths are full of large, ragged teeth, definitely scary looking!
Megalodons are extinct. They died out about 3.5 million years ago. And scientists know this because, once again, they looked at the teeth. All sharks – including megalodons – produce and ultimately lose tens of thousands of teeth throughout their lives.
To give you a general price range for commercial grade (has some defects) Megalodon teeth. 2-3” teeth will typically be in the $20 to $60 range, 3-4” teeth will fall into the $50-100 range, 4-5” teeth the $100-200 range, 5-5 ½” teeth $200-400, etc.
This data suggests that mature adult megalodons had a mean length of 10.2 metres (about 33.5 feet), the largest specimens measuring 17.9 metres (58.7 feet) long. Some scientists, however, contend that the largest forms may have measured up to 25 metres (82 feet) long.
Oldest shark teeth
The earliest shark-like teeth we have come from an Early Devonian (410-million-year-old) fossil belonging to an ancient fish called Doliodus problematicus. Described as the 'least shark-like shark', it is thought to have risen from within a group of fish known as acanthodians or spiny sharks.
Megalodons succumbed to global cooling due to the shrinking of their habitat, the vanishing of their favorite prey, and competition from other predators 3.5 million years ago.
"Megalodon teeth are found on a fairly regular basis along Calvert Cliffs. However, one that large is rare indeed. Perhaps a few each year," Godfrey said. Because of its large teeth, experts believe it feasted on whales, large fish and probably other sharks.