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ANIMALSO
Breeding

Australian Fossil Hunter Unearths Rare Set of Ancient Shark Teeth at Jan Juc

Philip Mullaly spotted teeth at Jan Juc, Victoria. Museums Victoria’s excavation later recovered more than 40 teeth and part of a backbone, according to a 2018 report.

By Animalso Team 2 min read

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At Jan Juc, near Torquay on Victoria’s coast, amateur fossil finder Philip Mullaly spotted teeth protruding from a boulder. A Museums Victoria team later excavated more than 40 teeth and part of a backbone—a striking fossil find that a 2018 news report identified as belonging to the ancient shark Carcharocles angustidens.

What did the fossil hunter find?

Mullaly contacted Museums Victoria after noticing the teeth. A team organised by senior curator Erich Fitzgerald carried out the subsequent excavation, recovering more than 40 teeth and part of the shark’s backbone, according to AAP PerthNow’s report published on 9 August 2018. The report described the serrated teeth as about seven centimetres long.

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Mullaly recalled being startled by the first fossil: “I was in a bit of shock actually because I saw it and I thought this is looking like it’s complete, like it’s just fallen out of a shark’s mouth even though it’s 25 million years old.”

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What kind of shark was it?

The 2018 report identified the fossils as Carcharocles angustidens and put their age at about 25 million years. Those are the report’s identifications and estimates; the article does not provide an independent scientific or museum catalogue confirmation.

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The same report said the species lived from 33 to 22 million years ago and could grow to more than nine metres long. It compared the shark with the great white and described it as an ancient cousin of Megalodon. These size, range and relationship details are reported context, rather than independent confirmation in the article.

Why was the find considered rare?

Fitzgerald explained that sharks have skeletons made largely of cartilage, which fossilises poorly. Teeth and vertebrae are more likely to survive as fossils, so finding multiple teeth alongside vertebral material is unusual. As quoted by AAP, he said: “So to have fossil finds like this one from Jan Juc where there are several teeth and part of a vertebra is pretty rare.”

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AAP’s 2018 report called the Jan Juc material the first set of Carcharocles angustidens fossils found in Australia and said only two other sets had previously been unearthed, in New Zealand and Belgium. That rarity claim and count reflect the report’s account at the time.

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Fitzgerald also described the teeth as exceptionally sharp: “They are as sharp as they were the day they were being used to slice through the flesh of whales,” he told AAP, adding, “Think a steak knife. They’re sharp.”

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Could the public see the fossils?

The 2018 article said the collection was intended for a six-month public display at Museums Victoria in Melbourne. That was a plan reported at the time, not confirmation that the fossils are on display now.

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