Megalodon tooth discovered by Pittsburgh-area family on beach vacation

A family from Elizabeth made the find of a lifetime at the beach this week, discovering a tooth that once belonged to an animal that lived millions of years ago. 

Mike Bowers found a 4-inch megalodon tooth while his family was on vacation in Sea Isle City Beach, New Jersey. 

When most people go to the beach, they'll usually pick up a souvenir like a shirt, hat or something you soon lose or throw away. But for Mike Bowers and his family, their trip to New Jersey resulted in a souvenir from something that at one time was so big it could swallow a small car. 

According to paleontologists, a megalodon was an ancient shark that prowled the prehistoric seas millions of years ago. Smithsonian Ocean said megalodons were about 60 feet long and weighed up to 50 tons — significantly larger than today's great white sharks, which can grow up to 20 feet long.

As for what the massive sharks ate? Pretty much anything. 

"This big chip on the end, they say it was probably from it biting into something, hitting the bone and it chipped it," Bowers said.

Experts say finding shark teeth at the beach isn't too uncommon, but a megalodon tooth this size is quite the find.

"We had to be in the right place at the right time with perfect timing," Bowers said. "Because if it wasn't low tide, I would have never found it."

Bowers said he's going to get the fossil authenticated. He says as a scuba diver, a megalodon tooth has been on his bucket list.