The Megalodon was more slender than depicted in movies, study shows

A brand-new research study reveals the Megalodon, a massive shark that went extinct 3.6 million years back, was more slim than earlier research studies recommended. This finding modifications researchers’ understanding of Megalodon habits, ancient ocean life, and why the sharks went extinct.

The Megalodon or megatooth shark is normally depicted as a super-sized beast in pop culture, with current examples in the sci-fi movies “The Meg” (2018) and “Meg 2: The Trench” (2023 ). Previous research studies presume that the shark most likely reached lengths of a minimum of 50 feet and perhaps as much as 65 feet.

The Megalodon is mostly understood just from its teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record– a rather insufficient set of information from which to draw presumptions. Therefore, the contemporary excellent white shark was generally utilized as a design for Megalodon bodies in previous research studies. That design led scientists to conclude that the shark was round and stocky like terrific whites.

“Our group reconsidered the fossil recordand found the Megalodon was more slim and perhaps even longer than we believed. A much better design may be the contemporary mako shark,” stated UCR biologist and paper very first author Phillip Sternes. “It still would have been a powerful predator at the top of the ancient marine food cycle, however it would have acted in a different way based upon this brand-new understanding of its body.”

For the brand-new research study released in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, a group of 26 researchers from worldwide, co-led by Sternes and DePaul University paleobiology teacher Kenshu Shimada, was influenced by distinctions in formerly approximated body lengths for the Megalodon.

“It was a ‘eureka-moment’ when our research study group understood the inconsistency in between 2 formerly released lengths for the very same Megalodon specimen,” stated Shimada.

The group then weighed in on a brand-new contrast of Megalodon vertebra fossils to those of living lamniform shark loved ones. “We determined the entire vertebral skeleton of a living terrific white shark with a CT scanner and compared that to the previous restoration of the Megalodon vertebral column,” Sternes stated.

“It was still a giant, predatory shark. The outcomes highly recommend that the Megalodon was not simply a bigger variation of the modern-day terrific white shark.”

A modified understanding of the Megalodon physique would in turn impact researchers’ understanding not just of the huge shark itself, however likewise of its effect on the ecology and development of marine environments that formed the contemporary oceans.

There is no doubt the Megalodon is among the biggest marine predators ever to have actually lived. A slimmer and more lengthened body would recommend the Megalodon likewise had a longer gastrointestinal canal. Sternes described that in this case, the sharks may have taken pleasure in improved absorption of nutrients, and might not have actually needed to consume as typically as formerly thought.

“With increased capability to absorb its food, it might have chosen longer without requiring to hunt. This implies less predation pressure on other marine animals,” Sternes stated. “If I just need to consume one whale every now and then, whale populations would stay more steady gradually.”

Some shark researchers have actually thought that a natural reduction in victim caused the termination of Megalodons. Sternes has another theory, in part supported by the modified understanding of its shape.

“I think there were a mix of aspects that resulted in the termination, however among them might have been the development of the fantastic white shark, which was perhaps more nimble, making it an even much better predator than the Megalodon,” Sternes stated. “That competitors for food might have been a significant consider its death.”

The research study group of shark specialists from the U.S., UK, Austria, France, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all feel that a modified understanding of ancient marine life would have a cascading impact on the oceans that are still noticeable today.

“Now that we understand it was a thinner shark, we require to reinvestigate its way of life, how it actually lived, and what triggered it to pass away,” Sternes stated. “This research study represents a significant stepping stone for others to act on.”