Some Megalodons Reached 80 Toes—However They Weren’t Constructed Like Nice Whites, Analysis Suggests

15 million years earlier than motion pictures like Jaws and Open Water gave swimmers the heebie-jeebies, a prehistoric shark species referred to as Otodus megalodon reached gargantuan sizes. Researchers have reassessed simply how giant the now-extinct beast would have been—and the outcomes are fin-tastic.

To refine its personal estimates of megalodon’s dimension, a world crew of biologists, paleontologists, and anatomists analyzed partial megalodon fossils alongside the morphology of each current and extinct shark species. From this knowledge they extrapolated that the prehistoric shark, generally referred to as a megatooth shark, may have grown to a most dimension of 80 toes (24 meters) in size. Their study, printed at present within the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, additionally gives potential perception into why sure shark species have been capable of obtain gigantism, whereas others remained child sharks by comparability (doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo).

Based mostly on a partial 36-foot (11-meter) fossilized megalodon vertebral column (backbone) beforehand unearthed in Belgium, the crew investigated how large the shark’s different physique elements might need been. Led by paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada of DePaul College, they in contrast the shark’s backbone to the bodily proportions of 145 residing shark species and 20 extinct shark species.

Because of this evaluation and their assumption that the megalodon’s physique was just like that of most sharks, the researchers estimated {that a} megalodon with a 36-foot-long backbone would have had a 6-foot-long (1.8-meter-long) head and 12-foot-long (3.6-meter-long) tail. In whole, this particular person would have been a whopping 54 toes lengthy (16.4 meters).

In the event you assume that’s large, you’re in for a shock. The researchers utilized these proportions to an assumed megalodon vertebrae found in Denmark—a number of the largest megalodon vertebrae ever unearthed. The crew concluded that the Danish shark would have been 80 toes lengthy (24.3 meters) and weighed 94 tons.

“The size of 24.3 meters is presently the biggest potential affordable estimate for O. megalodon that may be justified primarily based on science and the current fossil file,” Phillip Sternes, a co-author of the examine and a biologist at SeaWorld San Diego, mentioned in a DePaul College statement.

However what did a megalodon appear like? As a result of a whole skeleton has by no means been discovered, students can solely examine the prehistoric beast by analyzing partial stays and evaluating them to different shark species. Its serrated tooth resemble these of nice whites, nonetheless, so each academia and the leisure business (in addition to this text’s function picture) have tended to depict the extinct species as a big nice white shark.

However the brand new examine “has solidified the concept O. megalodon was not merely a big model of the modern-day nice white shark, supporting our earlier study,” Sternes defined.

“What units our examine other than all earlier papers on physique dimension and form estimates of O. megalodon is using a very new method that doesn’t rely solely on the trendy nice white shark,” added Jake Wooden, a co-author and biologist on the Florida Atlantic College.

In reality, Wooden, Sternes, and their colleagues theorized that the megalodon would have appeared slimmer than the cumbersome nice white, extra akin to the lemon shark. They then famous that at present’s large marine creatures—reminiscent of whale sharks, basking sharks, and whales—even have extra slender and hydrodynamic varieties. This realization led them to hypothesize that cumbersome marine vertebrates, reminiscent of nice white sharks, can’t develop to huge sizes (phew!) with out altering their bodily kind—in any other case, swimming would turn into too inefficient.

“Many interpretations we made are nonetheless tentative, however they’re data-driven and can function affordable reference factors for future research on the biology of O. megalodon,” concluded Shimada.

It’s price emphasizing that with out entry to a whole megalodon skeleton, the crew’s data-driven method necessitated a good quantity of guesswork and assumptions. Moreover, shark physique proportions fluctuate dramatically, so evaluating them to one another may not result in correct conclusions. Lastly, whereas assuming that vertebrae sizes correlate with physique size is logical, it’s not foolproof. It stays to be seen whether or not future fossil discoveries will show them proper.

In the event you’re feeling grateful that we not need to share the oceans with megalodons, I’m afraid there’s some dangerous information: the examine additionally revealed that at present’s nice white shark might have been partially chargeable for the megalodon’s extinction 5 million years in the past.

(Run away, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo…)