Metaxytherium floridanum Hay 1922.
Section of rib from a large Dugong. Like all Sirenians the ribs of Dugongs are heavily mineralised to aid buoyancy. On one surface of the rib are two gashes each 0.5 cm wide by 2cm long. These are from the tooth of the giant extinct shark (Megalodon), Otodus (Megalselachus) megalodon. These monster shark's were the apex predators of the seas and would have targeted harmless defenceless sea cows as easy prey. Lovely example.
Middle / Late Miocene, Bone Valley Phosphates.
Polk County, Florida, USA.
Bone approx 5 cm long
