Pop culture hasn't come short when it comes to Megalodon representation. The famed prehistoric shark has been an antagonist or at least featured in numerous films, often as a tool to instill fear of the deep unknown.
But, the largest shart to swim the planet's oceans, a ghost in paleontological records, might even be bigger than scientists initially thought.
Megalodon Shark-- The Scourge of the Deep
The megalodon's scientific name, Carchorocles megalodon, translates to "giant tooth" according to Live Science, and for good reason. One of the most defining features of the mega-shark is its humongous teeth that are three times larger than our modern-day great white shark.
During its time, the apex predator hunted in warm shallow seas covering much of Earth. Its teeth have been unearthed in various continents except for Antarctica. Scientists theorize that the Scourge of the Deep became extinct when seas of the planet begun to dry up; during the ice age, water were locked at the poles. The sharks would have either froze or starved to extinction.
Gauging the size of the megalodon's teeth and a few of its found vertebrae was difficult for researchers due to its build, which could probably be different from modern shark species. Estimates of its size range forum roughly 11 meters to well over 40 meters in length, but averaging around 15-18 meters.
New Megalodon Findings
A new method of dating and calculating the large-toothed shark based on its width suggests that the previous numbers are underestimated. The chance discovery was published in the journal Paleontologia Electronica, entitled "Body length estimation of Neogene macrophagous lamniform sharks (Carcharodon and Otodus) derived from associated fossil dentitions".
Ronny Maik Leder, the lead author and paleontologist at the Natural History Museum, Germany, explains that the team was surprised that the technique wasn't done earlier. He explains that the method provides a more stable approach than those used before.
Despite megalodon skeletons being absent from paleontological records for generations, its giant teeth are plentiful. Allowing scientists to date the shark's existence roughly 23 million years to 3.6 million years in the past. Sharks continuously regrow their teeth throughout their existence. A megalodon is thought to have roughly 276 teeth at any given time. To estimate the megalodon's size, researchers used an equation based on the size of the shark's tooth.
Teddy Badaut, French amateur paleontologists, came up with the solution of basing estimates of the shark's jaw and distribution based on the width of the tooth and not its length. Researchers devised a new equation and a model estimate of the megalodon's jaw based on links between the tooth's wish and the jaw.
Despite the equation's profound effect and advances on understandings of the megalodon, researchers haven't settled on precise measurements for the megalodon. However, they believe that with a few more estimates and samples, they could finish the equation and predict a more accurate measurement for the biggest shark that ever lived.
Check out more news and information on the Ocean on Science Times.
