True size of prehistoric mega-shark finally revealed

Date:
September 3, 2020
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
A new study has revealed the size of the legendary giant shark
Megalodon, including fins that are as large as an adult human.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== [Megalodon illustration | Credit: (c) warpaintcobra / stock.adobe.com] Megalodon illustration (stock image).

Credit: (c) warpaintcobra / stock.adobe.com [Megalodon illustration |
Credit: (c) warpaintcobra / stock.adobe.com] Megalodon illustration
(stock image).

Credit: (c) warpaintcobra / stock.adobe.com Close To date only the length
of the legendary giant shark Megalodon had been estimated. But now, a
new study led by the University of Bristol and Swansea University has
revealed the size of the rest of its body, including fins that are as
large as an adult human.


========================================================================== There is a grim fascination in determining the size of the largest sharks,
but this can be difficult for fossil forms where teeth are often all
that remain.

Today, the most fearsome living shark is the Great White, at over six
metres (20 feet) long, which bites with a force of two tonnes.

Its fossil relative, the big tooth shark Megalodon, star of Hollywood
movies, lived from 23 to around three million years ago, was over twice
the length of a Great White and had a bite force of more than ten tonnes.

The fossils of the Megalodon are mostly huge triangular cutting teeth
bigger than a human hand.

Jack Cooper, who has just completed the MSc in Palaeobiology at the
University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, and colleagues from
Bristol and Swansea used a number of mathematical methods to pin down
the size and proportions of this monster, by making close comparisons
to a diversity of living relatives with ecological and physiological similarities to Megalodon.



==========================================================================
The project was supervised by shark expert Dr Catalina Pimiento from
Swansea University and Professor Mike Benton, a palaeontologist at
Bristol. Dr Humberto Ferro'n of Bristol also collaborated.

Their findings are published today in the journal Scientific Reports.

Jack Cooper said: "I have always been mad about sharks. As an
undergraduate, I have worked and dived with Great whites in South Africa
-- protected by a steel cage of course. It's that sense of danger, but
also that sharks are such beautiful and well-adapted animals, that makes
them so attractive to study.

"Megalodon was actually the very animal that inspired me to pursue palaeontology in the first place at just six years old, so I was over
the moon to get a chance to study it.

"This was my dream project. But to study the whole animal is difficult considering that all we really have are lots of isolated teeth."
Previously the fossil shark, known formally as Otodus megalodon, was
only compared with the Great White. Jack and his colleagues, for the
first time, expanded this analysis to include five modern sharks.



==========================================================================
Dr Pimiento said: "Megalodon is not a direct ancestor of the Great White
but is equally related to other macropredatory sharks such as the Makos,
Salmon shark and Porbeagle shark, as well as the Great white. We pooled detailed measurements of all five to make predictions about Megalodon." Professor Benton added: "Before we could do anything, we had to test
whether these five modern sharks changed proportions as they grew up. If,
for example, they had been like humans, where babies have big heads and
short legs, we would have had some difficulties in projecting the adult proportions for such a huge extinct shark.

"But we were surprised, and relieved, to discover that in fact that the
babies of all these modern predatory sharks start out as little adults,
and they don't change in proportion as they get larger." Jack Cooper
said: "This means we could simply take the growth curves of the five
modern forms and project the overall shape as they get larger and larger
- - right up to a body length of 16 metres." The results suggest that
a 16-metre-long Otodus megalodon likely had a head round 4.65 metres
long, a dorsal fin approximately 1.62 metres tall and a tail around 3.85
metres high.

This means an adult human could stand on the back of this shark and
would be about the same height as the dorsal fin.

The reconstruction of the size of Megalodon body parts represents a
fundamental step towards a better understanding of the physiology of
this giant, and the intrinsic factors that may have made it prone to extinction.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Palaeoartist_reconstruction_of_Megalodon ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jack A. Cooper, Catalina Pimiento, Humberto G. Ferro'n, Michael J.

Benton. Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus
megalodon: a 2D reconstruction. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1)
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020- 71387-y ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200903095637.htm

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