MEGALODON
Sharks are one of the most ancient types of life on earth. Sharks first appeared in the Silurian, 443 mya! Since then, sharks have diversified into a variety of shapes and sizes. The largest shark to ever exist, Carcharocles megalodon (car-car-oh-cleez mega-low-don) is usually referred to by its species name of megalodon. Megalodon is one of few prehistoric creatures that is referred to in this manner.
Original Discovery
Megalodon fossils have been known for centuries. It was only in 1835 that Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz gave the megalodon its original scientific name of Carcharodon megalodon (Car-car-oh-don mega-low-don). Agassiz believed that megalodon was a large species of the modern great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (car-car-oh-don car-care-E-as). Recently it was decided that megalodon instead belonged in its own distinct group, due to differences in the teeth.
Physiology
Like all sharks, megalodon's skeleton was made of cartilage. Unlike bone, cartilage does not fossilize well, making fossil shark skeletons extremely rare. Thankfully, sharks have not changed much physically since they first appeared. This means that scientists can fairly confidently reconstruct megalodon from its teeth alone. Megalodon would have most likely resembled a scaled-up great white shark, measuring between 40 to 60 feet in length.
Ecology
Megalodon was the top predator in oceans all over the world. Young megalodon would have started life in the shallow water close to shore, hunting the small whales that lived there, until they eventually moved out into deeper water. The hunting style of megalodon is thought to have been very similar to how great whites hunt seals today. They would have done this by diving deep below its prey and then facing upward and charging at the whale. It would have smashed in to the tail and fins of the whale, ripping them straight off. With the whale dying of shock and blood loss, the megalodon could eat at its leisure. Fully grown megalodon had only one natural predator. This was the equally large sperm whale ancestor Livyatan. When these two met, it would have been a battle an on epic scale.
Extinction
Megalodon first appears in the fossil record 16 million years ago during the middle Miocene epoch, at the same time that our earliest ancestors were beginning to walk upright. Megalodon survived for 14.4 million years, going extinct only 1.6 million years ago, shortly after the ice ages began. This extinction was most likely caused by the changing climate. With the oceans growing colder, megalodon was forced to stay in the warm waters by the equator. However, the whales that megalodon hunted were not forced to stay, and thanks to their blubber, were able to thrive in the cooler climate. With its food source gone, megalodon faded into extinction.
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Image Credits
All images have been cropped to fit the space required
All images are used under Fair Use laws
Image credits are listed from top to bottom and from left to right
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Megalodon fin
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
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Megalodon jaw
Original picture by: Spotty11222
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Megalodon attacking whale
Original screenshot by: Liekeze
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Megalodon eating elephant ancestors
Original artwork by: Robert Nicholls