This is a museum quality replica At somewhere around fifty feet long, Carcharodon megalodon was the largest shark that ever haunted the oceans. Now you can own a razor-sharp museum-replica tooth from this monster predator called Megalodon. This 5 1/2-inch replica is perfect right down to the serration’s. Real MEG teeth of this size and quality could cost hundreds of dollars. Real fossil MEG teeth are generally black to caramel in color because of the minerals found in the sediment and rock where they were fossilized. Megalodon lived 2 - 50 million years ago. THE IMPORTANCE OF FOSSIL REPLICAS By definition authentic fossils are unique one of a kind occurrences. No two fossils are identical. In fact many fossils are the one and only known specimen of a particular genus or species. With only one specimen available for study how do paleontologist around the world study such rare and often very fragile specimens? One answer to that question is through replicas cast directly from the original fossil. This way many exact copies can be made and distributed for research and museum display all over the world. Thus fossils replicas are an important scientific tool. In some cases a replica of a fossil lost or destroyed may be the only remaining evidence of the original fossil. Replicas allow direct study of otherwise unattainable specimens. Replicas allow the public to see, enjoy and learn about specimens that otherwise might be locked away in some storage cabinet or vault. For example, there is only one original Archaeopteryx specimen known as the Berlin specimen and that original is kept in a vault in Germany. However, nearly every museum in the world displays a replica of this important fossil. Another example is the Tyrannosaurus rex known as “Sue”, the most complete specimen ever found. There is only one original but replicas are in museums all over the world. The importance of replicas in paleontology and education cannot be overstated.