A new study led by the University of Bristol and Swansea University has revealed the full scope of the megalodon shark, one of the fiercest ocean predators to ever live.
The megalodon, which lived from 23 to around three million years ago, is estimated to have had a head that was over 15 feet wide and was over twice the length of a Great White. It is also estimated that it would have had a bite force of more than ten tons.
“Megalodon is not a direct ancestor of the Great White but is equally related to other macropredatory sharks such as the Makos, Salmon shark and Porbeagle shark, as well as the Great white,” Dr. Catalina Pimiento from Swansea University said. “We pooled detailed measurements of all five to make predictions about Megalodon.”
“Before we could do anything, we had to test whether these five modern sharks changed proportions as they grew up,” Professor Mike Benton, a paleontologist at Bristol said. “If, for example, they had been like humans, where babies have big heads and short legs, we would have had some difficulties in projecting the adult proportions for such a huge extinct shark. But we were surprised, and relieved, to discover that in fact that the babies of all these modern predatory sharks start out as little adults, and they don’t change in proportion as they get larger.”
The reconstruction of the size of Megalodon body parts represents a fundamental step towards a better understanding of the physiology of this giant, and the intrinsic factors that may have made it prone to extinction.
“I have always been mad about sharks. As an undergraduate, I have worked and dived with Great whites in South Africa—protected by a steel cage of course. It’s that sense of danger, but also that sharks are such beautiful and well-adapted animals, that makes them so attractive to study,” study author Jack Cooper, who has just completed the MSc in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences,said. “Megalodon was actually the very animal that inspired me to pursue paleontology in the first place at just six years old, so I was over the moon to get a chance to study it. This was my dream project. But to study the whole animal is difficult considering that all we really have are lots of isolated teeth.”
The findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.