We’re gonna want a much bigger shark dimension estimate. Researchers had primarily based some knowledgeable guesses about simply how large the megalodon — a prehistoric large fish that hunted the oceans 13 million years to fifteen million years in the past — was by evaluating current fossils of the extinct species to bones of the present-day nice white shark.
Formally referred to as Otodus megalodon, the prehistoric predator is understood not only for its dimension however for its distinctive serrated enamel. As a result of the a lot smaller modern-day nice white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has comparable chompers, Megalodon has usually been thought of its supersize precursor.
Nonetheless, measuring a creature that impressed “The Meg” towards one which gave inventive delivery to “Jaws” is probably not apt. If not an apples-to-oranges situation, it could be a “lemon shark to nice white” one, in response to a paper in Palaeontologia Electronica.
“Our new research has solidified the concept that O. megalodon was not merely a huge model of the modern-day nice white shark,” Phillip Sternes, a co-author of the paper who was a graduate pupil at DePaul College on the time of the research, stated in a press launch. Sternes is now an educator at SeaWorld San Diego.
The Megalodon Physique
Many earlier Megalodon dimension estimates have been primarily based upon essentially the most full obtainable fossil of the ocean creature: a 36-foot-long part of vertebrates encompassing the shark’s trunk, situated in Belgium. The brand new research asks a query about proportion — primarily what are one of the best estimates of the creature’s lacking head and tail, primarily based on what we learn about shark anatomy, each previous and current.
A global crew of researchers surveyed the ratios of the pinnacle, trunk, and tail relative to complete physique size throughout 145 fashionable and 20 extinct species of sharks. Assuming the megalodon’s physique construction was per most sharks, they decided that the Belgium specimen’s size totaled 54 toes — about 10 toes longer than the usual U.S. faculty bus.
Totally different Physique Form
The scientists additionally scrutinized particular bones to get higher understanding of the megalodon’s seemingly general physique form. These clues gave fodder to the notion that the megalodon’s form was extra akin to the lengthy, slender fashionable lemon shark than to the shorter stockier physique of the modern nice white — which means earlier estimate of the Belgian specimen’s size have been in all probability too brief.
Irrespective of the precise dimension, the Meg was really a scary specimen.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed research and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors assessment for scientific accuracy and editorial requirements. Overview the sources used beneath for this text:
Earlier than becoming a member of Uncover Journal, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science coverage and international scientific profession points. He started his profession in newspapers, however switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications together with Science Information, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
