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 The teeth are those of the ancient Megalodon, a massive killer shark
whose name literally means "big tooth" in Greek. The predators
trolled warm ocean waters 1.5 million to 25 million years ago,
growing longer than the size of one or possibly two city buses and
eating whales and dolphins for snacks.
Each tooth was collected by amateur fossil hunter Vito Bertucci, who
spent nearly two decades plucking Megalodon teeth from the shores of
South Carolina and Georgia before he was killed in a 2004 diving
accident. He was 47.
"He lived for this, and he also died for it," said his brother,
Joseph Bertucci, a beverage manager at a beach club in Long Island
who wears a shark's tooth on a gold necklace that his brother made
for him. "Sharks' teeth were his passion."
The 9-by-11 foot jaws being sold in June by Heritage Auctions in
Dallas -- starting bid, $625,000 -- are the biggest of several jaws
Vito Bertucci made with the Megalodon teeth he collected over the
years. It is billed by Heritage as "the largest set of prehistoric
shark jaws ever assembled." [to top of second column]
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The collection has four teeth more than 7 inches long, which is
rare, said Peter Wiggins, assistant director of Heritage's natural
history auctions. He said while the jaws themselves are made from
Plexiglas, the teeth are fossils the likes of which have
individually sold for $10,000 to $15,000 in recent years.
Some scientists, however, question the accuracy of the jaws' size
and tooth placement. A professional jeweler, Vito Bertucci used his
talent for casting and molding to place the fossilized teeth into
what he thought would be their proper position on the massive jaws,
his brother said.
"The problem here is the size," said shark fossil expert Kenshu
Shimada at DePaul University. "That's highly, highly
over-exaggerated."
[Associated
Press; By LINDA STUART BALL]
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