228 



NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



it admits of slight variations ; teeth somewhat oblique, or in- 

 clined to the posterior end ; upper, or outer side, nearly flat ; 

 imder side prominently convex in the middle ; enamel cracked 

 longitudinally on both sides, particularly along the middle ; 

 serratures rather indistinct from the use of the tooth ; core 

 coarsely striated. It is usually found in the miocene beds, 

 and is the most common upon the Cape Fear. 



If the size of the teeth furnish an indication of the strength, 

 size and ferocity of this species of shark, then it must have 

 been one of the largest and most formidable animals of the 

 ocean, combining, as Prof. Owen remarks, with the organiza- 

 tion of the shark, its bold and insatiable character, they must 

 have constituted the most terriffic and irresistable of the pre- 

 daceous monsters of the ancient deep. The largest of the 

 teeth measure sometimes six inches in length, and from four 

 to live wide at base. 



The jaws of the largest species of shark known in modern 

 times measure about four feet around the upper, and three 



feet eight inches around 



the lower jaw. The 

 length of the largest 

 tooth is two inches, and 

 the total length of the 

 shark, when living, was 

 thirty-seven feet. If the 

 proportions of the ex- 

 tinct shark bore the 

 same as those of the 

 living, their length must 

 Iiave been over one 

 hundred feet, equaling 

 in this respect, the larg- 

 est of the whales. 



Figure 51 shows a smaller tooth of the carcharodon mega- 

 lodon. 



