[an error occurred while processing this directive]
BBC News
watch One-Minute World News
Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 October 2006, 21:04 GMT 22:04 UK
Prehistoric tooth found in wall
Shark's tooth
Angela Foster at first thought the tooth was an arrow head
A tooth belonging to a prehistoric shark has been donated to a Kent museum after it was found in a wall.

The palm-sized incisor belonging to a creature called a Megladon was discovered by Angela Foster after her garden wall in Maidstone collapsed.

Experts at Maidstone Museum believe the tooth could be 10 million years old, but they do not know how it could have ended up where it was found.

Prof Ed Jarzembowski said the shark could easily have swallowed a human.

I feel extremely privileged to have it in my possession
Angela Foster

The Megladon, which died out two million years ago, was 15 to 20m long and capable of devouring a large whale.

Experts have said its condition means that it was not native to the UK but probably originated from the Everglades area of the United States.

Ms Foster said at first she thought it might have been an arrow head, because the fossil resembled flint.

"I feel extremely privileged to have it in my possession and it's also quite tactile - everyone that I've shown it to actually immediately puts their hand out to hold it," she said.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Has China's housing bubble burst?
How the world's oldest clove tree defied an empire
Why Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin quit


Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific