A new study shows the Megalodon, a gigantic shark that went extinct 3.6 million years ago, was more slender than earlier studies suggested. This finding changes scientists’ understanding of Megalodon behavior, ancient ocean life, and why the sharks went extinct.
The Megalodon is largely known only from its teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record.
The Megalodon was more slender and possibly even longer than we thought. It was more like the modern mako shark. It still would have been a formidable predator at the top of the ancient marine food chain, but it would have behaved differently based on this new understanding of its body.
Megalodon was not a 50 feet to 65 feet long version of the Great White shark.
Megalodon was probably a 55 feet to 75 feet long version of the Mako shark.
There is no doubt the Megalodon is one of the largest marine predators ever to have lived. But a slimmer and more elongated body would suggest the Megalodon also had a longer digestive canal. Sternes explained that in this case, the sharks might have enjoyed enhanced absorption of nutrients, and may not have had to eat as often as previously believed.
“With increased ability to digest its food, it could have gone for longer without needing to hunt. This means less predation pressure on other marine creatures,” Sternes said. “If I only have to eat one whale every so often, whale populations would remain more stable over time.”
Some shark scientists have theorized that a natural decrease in prey led to the extinction of Megalodons. However, Sternes has another theory, in part supported by the revised understanding of its shape.
“I believe there were a combination of factors that led to the extinction, but one of them may have been the emergence of the great white shark, which was possibly more agile, making it an even better predator than the Megalodon,” Sternes said. “That competition for food may have been a major factor in its demise.”
This is just another thing for the John Statham Meg movie series to correct as they strive for scientific accuracy.
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So, the Megalodon was a leaner meaner shark? Interesting. I have a few teeth I once collected on a beach in South Carolina (Edisto), but that’s about it. Nothing to say about how fat or thin the Megalodon really was. They are some really big teeth however.
The teeth will tend towards spike-like over evolutionary time scales if the diet is wiggling squid and fish (mako) and will be more blade like for larger pinniped or cetacean prey… obviously a big shark eats whales, sirenians, seals, etc.. I’m a selective creationist… a truely intelligent design is continually tuned by survival of the fittest feedback LMAO.
The aspect ratio and shape of the Megalodon tooth (broadly triangular) is more similar to the modern white shark than the other mackerel sharks (porbeagĺe, mako, salmon shark). They are all very similar and recently differentiated (10E6 years?). There’s a lot of scientists out there that think it’s important to name things or bin them very narrowly. Naming or binning at the level of race (e.g. forest vs. bush elephant) adds no new value or information. The genus (mackerel sharks) is alive and well and has capacity to be large and small, while the species are almost indistinguishable (other than by size) to the lay person… fishermen or shark week fans know that the salmon and Mako have needle like teeth. Again they’re all just names for animals that live in the open ocean and don’t last a week in captivity.