In May 2019, a giant—and very toothy—C. megalodon shark took up residence at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This ancient shark lived roughly 16 to 2.6 million years ago in nearly every corner of the ocean, including in the ancient oceans that once covered the Chesapeake Bay region. Roughly up to 3 times the length of a modern-day great white shark, it is the largest shark to have ever lived. The name Carcharocles megalodon means “big toothed glorious shark.” The model was built by artist Gary Staab, with scientific direction from Smithsonian curator of vertebrate paleontology Hans Sues and University of Maryland faculty member Bretton Kent.
