Sharks used to love Mammoth Cave as they've discovered a few new species of ancient sharks over the years.  Recently, they announced a new discovery of a very small shark!

Why Are There So Many Shark Discoveries in Mammoth Cave?

Okay, so it seems pretty random that Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is home to an ancient shark species. I mean, the state is landlocked.  But over the past year alone, there have been at least four ancient shark species discovered in the cave (well, their fossils have been discovered).  So why is Kentucky finding so many ancient marine fossils?

More than 325 million years ago, the area that is now Mammoth Cave National Park was underwater, and marine life thrived in the region. According to the Smithsonian, many of the recently discovered shark fossils date back to before the Pangaea Supercontinent was formed, which was a long time ago.  The U.S. Geological Survey, dates Pangaea to around 300-200 million years ago.  So these shark fossils date back hundreds of millions of years.  Which, to be honest, my brain cannot even comprehend that many years ago.

Mammoth Cave Discovers Another Ancient Shark Fossil

On July 24th, 2025, Mammoth Cave National Park took to Facebook to share the news of another ancient shark discovery.  The latest species to be discovered is the Macadens Olsoni, and this tiny terror was less than a foot in length, so hardly a great white, but still very cool.

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According to Mammoth Cave National Park, this small shark is notable due to a "tooth whorl" which is a curved row of teeth designed for crushing smaller sea creatures.  It seems like this little crazy toothed dude was mostly a terror for mollusks and worms (delicious)!

Here is what the post from Mammoth Cave National Park had to say about the latest shark discovery:

A new species of ancient shark called Macadens olsoni has been discovered through fossil research at the park. Macadens olsoni is notable for its unique tooth whorl, a curved row of teeth designed for crushing small sea creatures. This ancient shark likely grew to less than a foot in length and probably feasted on mollusks and worms.

The new shark’s name means "Olson’s Mammoth Cave Tooth." It was named after both Mammoth Cave (Macadens) and Rickard Olson (olsoni), who is a retired scientist at Mammoth Cave who has been instrumental in coordinating field work and documentation of shark fossils for the park’s Paleontological Resources Inventory.