Did Megalodon have three rows of biting teeth?

Fossil bite mark evidence suggests Megalodon had three rows of biting teeth in the feeding position, not one as is often shown in many jaw reconstructions.

Many Megalodon teeth show evidence of self inflicted bite marks and in many cases these bite marks are equally spaced and occur in sets of three, suggesting the biting teeth in Megalodon occurred in rows of three. The frequency with which  three equally spaced bite marks occur is too consistent in position and form to be the result of accident.

Where teeth show evidence of self inflicted bite marks, this is because at the outset of an attack the tooth has been dislodged from the attacking sharks jaw and become stuck in the flesh of its prey. On the second bite, the attacking shark has bitten into its own tooth.

Self inflicted bite marks occur in all size ranges of Megalodon teeth, from juveniles to adults, and as the teeth become larger, the spaces between the bite marks become wider, suggesting this arrangement is present throughout the shark’s life.

Megalodon teeth with self inflicted bite marks

Juvenile Megalodon tooth with three almost equally spaced bite marks.

Left slant 42 mm. Right slant 44 mm (a 1 inch tooth)

Juvenile Megalodon tooth with three equally spaced bite marks.

Left slant 48 mm. Right slant 53 mm (a 2 inch tooth)

Adult Megalodon tooth with three equally spaced bite marks.

Left slant 120 mm. right slant 125 mm (a 5 inch tooth)

Adult Megalodon tooth with three almost equally spaced bite marks.

Left slant 140 mm. Right slant 135 mm (a 5.5 inch tooth)

Parallel, equally spaced bite marks in fossil bone

Similar bite mark patterns occur in some mammal bones found in association with Megalodon teeth, and may be further evidence in support of this theory.

Piece of whale bone (?) with three parallel, almost equally spaced bite marks attributed to Megalodon. Length of bone 150 mm (6 inches in length).

Kevin Laurie.

Hong Kong.

27 September 2011.