{"id":22980,"date":"2024-06-09T20:44:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-09T23:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gabrielpaladino.com\/?p=22980"},"modified":"2025-09-15T12:08:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T15:08:01","slug":"otodus-megalodon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pelecyphora.ddns.net:60123\/GabrielPaladino.com\/2024\/06\/09\/otodus-megalodon\/","title":{"rendered":"Otodus megalodon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), meaning “big tooth”, is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a member of the family Lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). However, it is now classified into the extinct family Otodontidae, which diverged from the great white shark during the Early Cretaceous. While regarded as one of the largest and most powerful predators to have ever lived, the megalodon is only known from fragmentary remains, and its appearance and maximum size are uncertain. Scientists differ on whether it would have more closely resembled a stockier version of the great white shark, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) or the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus).<\/p>\n

Scientific classification:<\/b>
Domain:Eukaryota
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Chondrichthyes
Subclass:Elasmobranchii
Subdivision:Selachimorpha
Order:Lamniformes
Family:Otodontidae
Genus:Otodus
Species:O. megalodon<\/p>\n

The most recent estimate with the least error range suggests a maximum length estimate up to 20 m, although the modal lengths are estimated at 10.5 m. Estimates suggest that a megalodon about 16 m long weighs up to 48 MT, 17 m long weighs up to 59 MT, and 20.3 m long (the maximum length) weighs up to 103 MT. Their teeth were thick and robust, built for grabbing prey and breaking bone, and their large jaws could exert a bite force of up to 108,500 to. Megalodon probably had a major impact on the structure of marine communities. The fossil record indicates that it had a cosmopolitan distribution. It probably targeted large prey, such as whales, seals and sea turtles. Juveniles inhabited warm coastal waters and fed on fish and small whales. Unlike the great white, which attacks prey from the soft underside, megalodon probably used its strong jaws to break through the chest cavity and puncture the heart and lungs of its prey. The animal faced competition from whale-eating cetaceans, such as Livyatan and other macroraptorial sperm whales and possibly smaller ancestral killer whales. As the shark preferred warmer waters, it is thought that oceanic cooling associated with the onset of the ice ages, coupled with the lowering of sea levels and resulting loss of suitable nursery areas, may have also contributed to its decline. A reduction in the diversity of baleen whales and a shift in their distribution toward polar regions may have reduced megalodon’s primary food source. The shark’s extinction coincides with a gigantism trend in baleen whales.<\/p>\n

Megalodon teeth are similar in shape but larger and broader than the teeth of the modern great white shark. Teeth are triangular, broad at the base, and thin toward the peak, like a chisel or wedge, although sometimes they curve toward the cusp. Teeth have a root, which has a V-shaped notch at its base, and an enamel-covered crown. The root has a rough, porous, bone-like texture, whereas the enamel is smooth and polished, but sometimes broken by vertical cracks. The outward-facing (lingual) side of the tooth bulges outward. The inward-facing (labial) side of the tooth is generally flat to slightly curved. The border between the crown and root on the lingual side of the tooth is marked by a chevron-shaped feature called the bourlette or dental band. The edges of the teeth are serrated like steak knives.<\/p>\n

Size: 71 x 62mm<\/b><\/p>\n

Specimen bought in Japan<\/p>\n

Photo Taken: May 05, 2024<\/p>\n

High resolution<\/a>
Flickr Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Did you like this post?<\/b><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), meaning “big tooth”, is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a member of the family Lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). However, 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