Researchers in the UK have revealed the true size of the prehistoric giant shark megalodon of Hollywood fame.
Experts from the University of Bristol and the University of Swansea have shed new light on the giant megalodon, the largest marine predator in history. While the modern Great White Shark may be more than 20 feet long, the megalodon, which lived 23 million to 3 million years ago, was twice the length of a great white shark. Scientists can now reveal the rest of Megalodon’s body size, including its huge fins.
Researchers have noted that megalodon fossils usually have larger triangular teeth than human hands. Equipped with data from these fossils, scientists used mathematical methods to find the size and proportions of megalodons. Comparisons were also made with living relatives of the animal.
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“Megalodon is not a direct ancestor of the great white, but it is equally related to great macropredatory sharks such as macaws, salmon sharks and porcigal sharks, as well as great whites,” said Dr. Catalina Pimiento of the University of Swansea, in a statement. . Macos refers to two subspecies of macaw sharks – shortfin and longfin.
PaleoArtist Reconstruction of the 16th (52.5-ft) Adult Megalodon
(Reconstructed by Oliver E. Demuth)
Pigianto said detailed measurements of modern sharks were used to make predictions about megalodon.
“Before we could do anything, we had to test whether these five modern sharks were increasingly changing,” Professor Mike Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, added in a statement. “If, for example, they were human-like, where children have large heads and short legs, we would have had little difficulty advancing the adult proportions for such a large extinct shark.”
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“But we were surprised, and relieved, by the fact that the babies of all these modern predatory sharks begin as young adults, and do not change relatively as they get older.”
Compare adult Megalodon’s dorsal fins with a 1.6 m (5.2-ft) diver
(Fin reconstruction by Oliver E. Demuth)
Researcher Jack Cooper, who recently completed his M.Sc. In paleobiology at the University of Bristol, explained that the team was then able to work in proportions to megalodon. “This means that we can only take the growth curve of five modern forms and project the overall shape as it gets bigger and bigger – up to 16 meters in body length. [52.5 feet], ”He said.
.55..5 feet long Megalodon has a head 15.3 feet long, a dorsal fins about 5.3 feet tall and a tail 12.6 feet high. “This means that an adult man can stand behind this shark and it will be as high as a dorsal fin,” they said in a statement.
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The research is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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A tooth as large as a human hand was found in South Carolina earlier this year. Megalodon teeth, as well as teeth of many other species of sharks, were found in Mexico last year.
Chris Chris of Fox News, and Christopher Carbon contributed to this article.
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