A student from University of Florida claimed that he has a tooth of giant shark that would have swum millions of years ago. According to Steven Pensabene, a 23-year-old University of Florida agriculture operations management junior, the 5-inch tooth that he found in the sandy soil of a Gainesville creek could belong to a 50-foot shark.

Pensabene said that the tooth had split down the center, and its other half is still not discovered. Pensabene has been looking for shark teeth since he was three years old.

Last week, University of Florida had released a study, which showed that Megalodon species, the largest shark ever on earth, became extinct about 2.6 million years ago. Some shark fanatics had previously claimed that the sharks might still be alive, but the recent study by the university disapproved them.

To conduct the study on extinction of Megalodon species, lead research author Catalina Pimiento collaborated with University of Zurich's Christopher Clements. The results of the study had provided insight into Megalodon's past.
Pimiento said, "The extinction of modern sharks is very worrying. They maintain the stability of marine ecosystems. Their extinction can negatively affect entire food webs".

In order to find the extinction date of the shark, the researchers used data from recent Megalodon records.

The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville is working to fight shark extinction. The museum had organized an exhibition, 'Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived', in 2008 and its immense popularity led the museum to take the exhibit on tour across the country.

According to the Florida Museum's marketing assistant, Katina Prokos, many museum goers had requested the museum to bring the exhibit back to Gainesville.

While talking about declining population of sharks, Prokos said that it is caused by overfishing and climate change.