A FOSSIL expert has uncovered a massive tooth from an extinct shark species during a routine dive.
Michael Nastasio found the six-inch long megalodon tooth off the coast of Venice, Florida, about 70 miles south of Tampa.
The diver told SNN he's been looking for megalodon teeth since 2011.
"I swam for 30minutes before I find any material that looks good, then I made two kicks and the tooth was looking straight at me," Nastasio said.
"My mind was just blown."
Nastasio owns Black Gold Fossil Charter, a scuba tour company that helps divers find similar artifacts.
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Megalodons were the largest sharks to ever exist and could be found all over the world, the Smithsonian reported.
They were alive roughly 23million to 3.6million years ago.
The sharks could grow to as long as 60feet, which is nearly three times bigger than the largest modern great white sharks.
Each of their teeth are about the size of an adult human's hand.
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Megalodons could chomp down on their prey with a force of 40,000lbs.
The predators would often feast on whales, seals, sea cows, and sea turtles, but could also consume smaller sharks and other fish.
Scientists have found the species' former nursing habitats in Panama, Maryland, and the Canary Islands.
Megalodon fossils have also been recovered as far north as Denmark and as far south as New Zealand.
The sharks went extinct due to changes in the climate which limited the amount of prey available to them.
Because megalodons were so massive, they needed a lot of food.
This is why smaller shark varieties ended up outliving the species.
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