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When did the Megalodon shark become extinct and why? – Landon, 10 years old
Imagine traveling back in time and observing the oceans of 5 million years ago.
As you stand on an ancient coastline, you see several small whales floating on the surface of an ancient sea in the distance.
Suddenly and without warning, a massive creature leapt from the depths.
The monster crushes one of the whales with its huge jaw and drags it into the depths. Large parts of the body are torn off and swallowed whole. The rest of the whales disperse.
You’ve just witnessed the mealtime of the megalodon, as it is officially known. Otodus megalodon – the biggest shark ever.
About megalodon
As a scientist who studies sharks and other ocean species, I am fascinated by the magnificent marine predators that have appeared and disappeared throughout the ages.
This includes giant swimming reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. These incredible predators lived in the time of the dinosaurs; megalodon won’t appear for another 50 million years.
But the megalodon must have been an incredible sight when it burst onto the scene about 15 to 20 million years ago.
A fully adult individual weighed approximately 50 metric tons; it weighed over 110,000 pounds (50,000 kilograms) and was 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 meters) long. This animal was longer than a school bus and weighed as much as a railroad car!
Their jaws were up to 3 meters wide, their teeth up to 17.8 centimeters long, and their bite force was 40,000 pounds per square inch (2,800 kilograms per square centimeter).
It’s no surprise that megalodons ate large prey. Scientists know this because they found fragments of megalodon teeth embedded in the bones of large marine animals. In addition to whales, the menu also includes large fish, seals, sea lions, dolphins and other sharks.
Are scientists sure that the megalodon is extinct?
Rumors persist on the Internet that modern-day megalodons exist and still swim in today’s oceans.
But this is not true. Megalodons became extinct. They went extinct about 3.5 million years ago.
And scientists know this because they took another look at the teeth. All sharks, including megalodons, produce and eventually lose tens of thousands of teeth throughout their lives.
This means that most of the missing megalodon teeth are around as fossils. Some are found at the bottom of the ocean; others washed ashore.
But so far, no one has found a megalodon tooth older than 3.5 million years. This is one of the reasons why scientists believed that the megalodon was extinct at that time.
Moreover, megalodons spent most of their time near the coast, where they could easily find their prey.
So if megalodons still existed, people would definitely see them. They were too big to miss; We would have lots of photos and videos.
Why did Megalodon disappear?
It was probably not one thing, but a complex mix of challenges, that led to the extinction of this magnificent mega-predator.
First, the climate has changed significantly. Global water temperature dropped; This reduced the area in which the warm water shark megalodon could thrive.
Second, due to the changing climate, all of the species the megalodon preyed on became extinct forever.
At the same time, competitors also led to the extinction of the megalodon (including the great white shark). Although only one-third the size of megalodons, great whites likely ate some of the same prey.
Then there were killer sperm whales, an extinct species of sperm whale. They were as big as Megalodon and had even bigger teeth. They were also warm-blooded; This meant that they had a wide habitat because living in cold waters was not a problem.
Killer sperm whales probably traveled in groups, so they probably had an advantage when encountering a megalodon hunting alone.
Cooling seas, disappearance of prey and competition; This was all too much for the megalodon.
That’s why you’ll never find a modern-day megalodon tooth.
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This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent, nonprofit news organization providing facts and authoritative analysis to help you understand our complex world. Written by: Michael Heithaus, Florida International University
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Michael Heithaus does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic duties.