Video footage of a huge deep-sea shark has once again opened up the argument of whether the enormous ancient Megalodon shark still exists in the deep ocean.

As indicated in a Daily Star report, the video showcases what some people have said seems to be a Common Sleeper Shark, "deep-sea scavengers and predators" that can grow to an impressive seven-meter long.

However, even this gigantic creature would have been dwarfed by Megalodon, as approximations drawn from fossilized teeth have approximated it growing somewhere between 14 and 20 meters in length.

The shark species went extinct roughly three million years ago, although many people still think it is possible that the creature is stalking in the depths of the ocean where they cannot be seen.

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Megalodon
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons/Brocken Inaglory)
Evidence of Megalodon that exists even if a live sample is not encountered, for instance, fresh teeth washing up on shore, or carcasses of whales with chunks the size of a Megalodon bitten out of them.


The 'Giant Squid'

One observer said, he thinks the creature went deep deeper into the seas like the giant squid, which is the reason they are never seen. Another comment said the oceans are huge and there are large areas that remain unexplored that he wouldn't be surprised if "there are megs out there.

Nonetheless, despite the evident appeal of this notion, it is not possible that the Megalodon is still alive at present.

One reason for this is that an animal the same size as Megalodon simply, would not be able to discover adequate food to consume in the incredibly sparse environment of the deep ocean, specifically an animal that has a muscular, active hunter such as Megalodon.

Essentially, animals adjusted for life in the deepest portions of the ocean are mostly much tinier, and frequently have delicate low-energy bodies or very slow metabolisms to account for the inadequacy of nutrition.

Evidence of Existence of Megalodons

Paleontologists said they think Megalodon would have predated on dolphins and whales which were tinier than itself, and in spite of some whales that dive very deep into the ocean, it would make no sense for a Megalodon to live down there when prey would be far more bountiful in shallower costa waters.

Evidence of Megalodon that exists even if a live sample is not encountered, for instance, fresh teeth washing up on shore, or carcasses of whales with chunks the size of a Megalodon bitten out of them.

Nonetheless, a similar report from The World News specified that no such evidence has yet been discovered for Megalodon, whilst other animal species took a long time to see alive like the Giant Squid were first documented from this kind of "fotsam and jetsam" proof.

Common Misconception

Another common misconception about the Megalodon is that it was the so-called apex predator of its time, and while this may have been true, it might not have been, as well.

Despite the name Megalodon, which literally means "big tooth," it does not actually have the largest teeth of any species of an animal, that accolade is going to Livyatan melvillei, an extinct species of a sperm whale with teeth that were 36.2 centimeters long.

The teeth of Livayatan, which is described by the New York Institute of Technology, have suggested that, unlike its present-time cousins, it would have predated on huge prey which includes other gigantic whales. What's interesting is that the two animals are in fact contemporary of one another, and may well have lived competing against one another.

Related report about Megalodon sightings is shown on Smart Pizza's YouTube video below:

 

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