F1295 - Fossilized Sperm Whale tooth found just off the coast of Charleston, SC, USA.  The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale (odontocete) having the largest brain of any animal.  The mail sperm whale can grow to 20.5 meters or about 67 feet long.  It is the largest living toothed animal.  It feeds primarily on squid but to some extent on fish, diving as deep as 9,800 feet, which makes it the deepest diving mammal, which can hold it breath for up to one hour.    When the sperm whale dives to great depths the animal makes a clicking sound which is used for sonar, and may also be used for other purposes.  The sperm whale can live for more than 70 years.  Most sperm whale fossils date from the Miocene period, 23 to 5 million years ago.

These fossil sperm whale teeth are fairly common but are becoming more and more scarce and the prices for them are rising sharply.  The sperm whale has large cone-shaped teeth.  About eighty-percent of the tooth is imbedded in the animals massive lower jaw.   Today, sperm whales are an endangered species due to extensive whaling done in by-gone years.