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Megalodons, the huge prehistoric sharks depicted in movies such as “The Meg,” had more slender bodies than was previously thought, according to a new study. Megalodons were skinnier than we ...
It has been thought that megalodon became extinct around the end of the Pliocene, about 2.6 Mya; [21] [22] claims of Pleistocene megalodon teeth, younger than 2.6 million years old, are considered unreliable. [22] A 2019 assessment moves the extinction date back to earlier in the Pliocene, 3.6 Mya. [23]
The largest shark in the fossil record is the megalodon (Otodus megalodon), a colossal Neogene lamniform. The range of estimates of the maximum length for megalodon are from 17 to 20.3 m (56 to 67 ft), with a mass ranging from 65 to 114 short tons (59 to 103 t). [44] [45] [46] It is also regarded as the largest macro-predatory fish ever.
[13] [14] The ancestors of cetaceans are believed to have been the semiaquatic pakicetids, no larger than dogs, of about 53 million years (Ma) ago. [15] By 40 Ma ago, cetaceans had attained a length of 20 m (66 ft) or more in Basilosaurus , an elongated, serpentine whale that differed from modern whales in many respects and was not ancestral to ...
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The spermaceti organ contained in that basin is thought to have been used in echolocation and communication, or for ramming prey and other sperm whales. The whale may have interacted with the large extinct shark megalodon (Otodus megalodon), competing with it for a similar food source. Its extinction was probably caused by a cooling event at ...
Like other known megatooth sharks, the fossils of O. angustidens indicate that it was considerably larger than the extant great white shark, with the largest individuals possibly measuring up to 11–12 metres (36–39 ft) long. [7] [8] A well preserved specimen from New Zealand is estimated at 9.3 m (31 ft) in length. [5]