Prince George gifted with giant shark tooth from Sir David Attenborough

Naturalist and famed British broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough has presented Prince George with a fossilised tooth of an extinct shark.

But this was not a tooth from just any sea predator.

The seven-year-old was grasping in his hands a fossil that came from a carcharocles megalodon, the biggest shark in the world, and one of the largest fish ever to exist.

The now-extinct species of shark lived in the sea some 23 million years ago.

Sir David had excavated the tooth himself while on a family holiday in Malta in the late 1960s.

Photos posted by the royals show George looking particularly excited as he examined the tooth while sitting beside his brother Louis and their father.

Prince George is seen holding the fossilised tooth of a shark that is millions of years old. Photo: The Duchess of Cambridge

Sir David had joined Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children at Kensington Palace for a private screening of his latest documentary, A Life on Our Planet.

He certainly did not disappoint his young hosts.

He was quoted in The Times as saying the meeting with the young royals was “charming”.

“When I was his age, I remember being given fossils by a grown-up, so I thought I would do the same,” he said.

“[George asked] What it was? How big it was? And so on. He was certainly very interested. He seemed to like it. He is very interested in fossils. She [Princess Charlotte] was too.”

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We had an amazing afternoon earlier this week when David showed Prince William his new film. They both share a passion for protecting the natural world and are supporting one another to raise awareness of the solutions at hand to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. They're working together on the @earthshotprize too – more on that soon.

A post shared by A Life On Our Planet (@davidattenborough) on Sep 26, 2020 at 2:30pm PDT

A carcharocles megalodon is said to be up to 15 metres long and twice as big as a great white shark.

Sir David found the tooth buried in the island’s soft yellow limestone.

Prince William previously said that fatherhood had given him a “new sense of purpose” in protecting nature for future generations.

Speaking in the documentary Prince William: A Planet For Us All, he said: “Now I have got George, Charlotte and now Louis in my life – your outlook does change. You want to hand over to the next generation, the wildlife in a much better condition.

“I always believe it is possible to give young people hope and belief that things can get fixed.

“I have the belief that if we all work together, we can make a difference.”