Megalodon, the ancient shark often depicted as a super-sized great white, was in fact a rather different beast, according to a new analysis of fossil evidence. The fearsome predator was longer, more slender and hunted in a different way, a team of shark scientists has concluded.
Best known from its depiction in the Meg film franchise, Otodus megalodon went extinct around 3.5 million years ago. It was one of the largest marine predators to have ever lived, but no complete skeleton has ever been found, so we canât be sure exactly how large it was.
Ěý˛ú˛âĚý at Swansea University, UK, and his colleagues reconstructed the animal based on a partial fossilised skeleton known as housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. The results showed a stocky, powerful shark built for bursts of speed to attack prey, similar to the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) of today â but, at 15.9 metres, about three times as long.
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at Birkbeck, University of London, says that study made âtenuous assumptionsâ about the size of megalodon based largely on it having similar teeth to a great white, though megalodonâs are much larger. He is part of a group of 26 shark experts who aim to set the record straight with a new study.
According to Underwood, Cooperâs team didnât realise how incomplete the partial skeleton was. Its vertebrae lack the typical tapering in size towards both the tail and the head of the shark, he says, indicating that many of them are missing.
The team behind the new study says the strength of the spinal column suggests a more slender body shape than that of a great white, as a shark of megalodonâs length shaped like a great white would be overly cumbersome.
âIt would almost certainly not be feeding like modern great whites,â says Underwood. âIt wouldnât be hovering over the sea floor waiting for a whale to move above it and then slamming into it from below, basically shredding it. It would involve more straight pursuit, a longer pursuit, less of an ambush predator. Because it doesnât have the top speed; it doesnât have the acceleration.â
Based on another partial fossil, the biggest known specimen of megalodon was estimated to be 20 metres long. Underwood thinks it might actually have been 20 per cent longer, making it 24 metres long.
But Cooper dismisses the new study as too simplistic and stands by his reconstruction of a shorter, stockier megalodon. âThe long and short of it is that no matter which hypothesis you support about its body shape, it was a very big shark,â he says. âOf course, a complete skeleton would go a long way to helping us find out more. But I also donât think we should assume this would settle all debates on this very charismatic animal.â
The chances of finding a complete, well-preserved specimen may be slim, however. at the University of Southampton, UK, who wasnât involved in the research, says she has recovered many megalodon teeth while scouring for new live species â but has seen no sign of a more complete specimen.
âI think itâs just the rest of the skeleton doesnât seem to be well preserved,â she says. âWith the megalodon, thereâs not actually much fossil evidence at all.â
Palaeontologia Electronica
