Stunning 'megalodon' exhibit opening at county zoo

Telford's Exotic Zoo will be showing off a stunning 'megalodon' jaw in its Natural History Museum from today – just in time for half term.

The five-foot-high and five-foot-wide jaw, which has been brought to the UK from Ukraine as part of a new exhibition, includes 276 teeth cast from real megalodon fangs.

Alongside the giant jaws the museum will be showcasing some of the biggest megalodon teeth ever discovered.

Long extinct the megalodon sharks were the largest to ever exist and lived around 23 to 3.6 million years ago.

Experts have suggested that a full-grown megalodon would weigh the same as 30 adult Great White sharks.

With a bite-force three times greater than that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, it is thought that the pressure from a megalodon's bite would have been sufficient to cut the average family car into two pieces.

Scott Adams, director of the Exotic Zoo, said they were thrilled to have snapped up the latest exhibit.

He said: "There are very few megalodon jaw casts on display across the UK and we are delighted to have this incredible exhibition in place.

"Being such a giant animal not seen in the living world today it mesmerises people and catches the attention of our young visitors who always ask about them and are very aware of them.

“Our visitors are always fascinated by our dinosaur exhibition, from commons fossils to entire intact dinosaur skeletons, we’re proud to have assembled such an amazing and unique collection of genuine dinosaur fossils and other fossils found in one place.

“Very few people realise that Shropshire is a fantastic place to find fossils. Despite being hours away from the coast, it is still possible to find amazing fossils in Shropshire. Places such as Wenlock Edge and Mortimer Forest are amongst some of the best spots in the country for finding fossils dating back to the Silurian period, almost 500 million years ago."