Of the megalodon, this giant shark that lived between 23 and 3.6 million years ago, we are left with almost only some teeth. Terrifying teeth. About the size of a human hand. On the basis of which it is very difficult to extrapolate what could have been the animal that lost them. But thanks to a fossil exceptionally well preserved discovered in the 1860s – an important part of spine approximately 18 million years old – researchers at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) managed to establish a 3D model of the monster.
A meticulous work on a unique fossil. Because the megalodon skeletons are made of cartilage. And that cartilage rarely fossilizes. Seizing the opportunity, the researchers first measured and scanned every available vertebra. What ultimately rebuild the entire spine of the beast. Before attaching a 3D scan of the teeth of a megalodon found in the United States. And top it all off with a flesh simulation of a South African white shark.
The megalodon thus reconstructed by the researchers measured no less than 16 meters in length. This is approximately the maximum length of a truck intended for transporting goods. It weighed more than 61 tons. It is less than the blue whale which weighs well over 100 tons, but still much more than the last estimates given around 50 tons.
An orca for breakfast
And that’s not all the researchers were able to glean from their model. From the estimate of the weight of the megalodon, it is indeed possible to establish some biological properties. Enough to estimate that the huge shark was moving at about 1.4 meters per second. That’s about five kilometers per hour. That’s faster than any of the sharks these days. But to do this, the megalodon needed no less than 98,000 kilocalories per day – that’s less than 3,000 for a man – to fill its stomach of one volume nearly 10,000 liters!
This explains at least in part the traces of megalodon bites present in the fossil record of animals that are also enormous. The monster had to be able to attack animals eight meters long. Like the modern orca. The researchers also estimate that only five bites were enough for the megalodon to swallow what is today the largest predator in our oceans. As to great White sharkthe monster was probably able to swallow it whole thanks to a mouth that it could open nearly two meters.
Once such a gargantuan meal is devoured, the mythical megalodon had to be able to swim thousands of miles in the oceans. Up to 7,000 even. What to make of it, without a doubt, a transoceanic super-predator, whose disappearance – which still remains a mystery – probably had a significant impact on the global transport of nutrients. But also certainly freed the big ones cetaceans of one pressure extremely strong predator. To what extent exactly? This still remains to be defined.
The megalodon must have been even bigger than we thought
A few days ago, a video TikTok was going viral. That of a megalodon, some said. Of course, it was nothing. The giant shark has long since died out. But its size continues to fuel fantasies. Just as much as the very serious work of researchers who are now revealing a new way of estimating it.
Article of Nathalie Mayer published on 06/12/2021
The megalodon. He disappeared a long time ago. At least 2 million years old, researchers estimate. But it remains recognized as the largest shark to have ever lived in the terrestrial oceans. Yet its exact size continues to be debated. Most estimate it to be between 15 and 18 meters. Based on a different method, Florida Museum of Natural History researchers (United States) today suggest that it could be close to 20 meters.
To understand, you must first know that the size of the megalodon is estimated from measurements made on fossil teeth. Because during its life, a megalodon lost thousands of teeth including L’E-mail has the advantage of keeping very well. By assessing the height of the teeth — from the tip of the crown to the line where the root and crown meet — and injecting it into equations established on the example of the great white shark, the researchers go back to the size of the giant shark.
But, by proposing the exercise to his students, Victor Perez, paleontologist at the Calvert Navy Museum (USA), noticed a problem. The students’ calculations, indeed, yielded incredibly inaccurate results. Ranging from 12 to 45 meters for a particular megalodon. He initially believed in errors of calculation or conversion. He finally realized that the equations used by researchers for nearly 20 years gave varying estimates depending on the tooth being measured. Because, as in humans, the size and shape of megalodon teeth vary according to its position in the mouth.
More details, but still no conclusion
It was then a French amateur paleontologist, Teddy Badaut, who proposed a solution: measure not the height, but the width of the teeth. Work had indeed suggested that, the width of the teeth being limited by the size of the jaw, it would be proportional to the length of the body of the animal. Seizing on the idea, the researchers established the corresponding equations.
By working on the fossil teeth of eleven sharks representing five species species, including megalodon, they developed a model of the width of an individual tooth relative to the jaw for a given species. Now, when a paleontologist discovers a single megalodon tooth the size of their hand, they can compare its width to the average obtained in the study and get an accurate estimate of the size of the shark.
Victor Perez nevertheless points out that the method retains a margin of error of around 3 meters when applied to the largest specimens. He also recognizes that it remains difficult to determine from his teeth alone, the exact width of the jaw of the megalodon. Because, in some species of sharks, researchers observe spaces between each tooth and in others, teeth that overlap. “The question of the size of the megalodon is still unresolved. To go further, we would need a complete skeleton”concludes the paleontologist, in a press release from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
We know the true size of the megalodon!
The megalodon is probably the most fearsome sea creature to ever live in our oceans. Researchers are now providing details on the morphology of the monster. Its fin must have been the height of a small adult human!
Article by Nathalie Mayer published on 06/09/2020
the megalodon — more exactly theOtodus megalodon –, is a kind of huge prehistoric shark that lived in our oceans between about 23 and 3 million years ago. The fossils found by the researchers suggest that the average height of this giant was around 16 to 18 meters. A real monster, even compared to the impressive great white shark which rarely exceeds 6 meters in length.
Today, some Bristol University researchers (United Kingdom) invite us to go into the details of the morphology of the megalodon. A real challenge, because all paleontologists have are a few fossilized teeth of the monster. This is why the researchers relied on mathematical models and comparisons with several species of living sharks.
A size extrapolated from those of existing sharks
Contrary to what happens in humans whose babies have, for example, big heads and short legs, these sharks grow up maintaining identical morphological proportions. Thus, the researchers were able to extrapolate the growth curves of these megalodon ancestors to project the shape of an individual 16 meters long.
Thus, the megalodon had to have a round head 4.65 meters long, a fin about 1.62 meters high — the size of a small adult human — and a tail about 3.85 meters in length. high. What hope to better understand the physiology of the animal. And why he finally disappeared from our oceans.
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