212 Shark and Company 



The gigantic jaws of the prehistoric shark ( Carcharodon ) , reconstructed from its fossil 

 teeth, easily accommodate 6 men. The model, in the American Museum of Natural 



History, would fit a shark about 80 feet long. Courtesy, American Museum of Natural History 



Supposedly extinct sharks do still emerge from time to time. At the 

 end of the nineteenth century, an unknown shark was caught off the 

 coast of Japan. It was about 4 feet long, had a long snout shaped like 

 a paper-knife, and a snaggle-toothed jaw. The shark was a complete 

 mystery— except for its teeth, which were sharp, with thorn-like cusps. 

 Distinctive teeth like these had been found in fossil beds in Europe, 



