New Study Shows We Have No Idea What Megalodon Really Looked Like

Earth’s oceans have been at the time house to an absolutely fearsome predator.

We know it only from tooth and vertebrae in the fossil file, but these explain to us that megalodon (Otodus megalodon) was certainly colossal. Lots of of these enamel are as big as your hand. Megalodon, we can only conclude, was the greatest shark at any time to swim the seas, with a maw that could quickly swallow a human whole.

But sharks are typically delicate tissue, their bodies supported by cartilage fairly than bone. Most of their continues to be haven’t survived the 3.6 million decades due to the fact their extinction this means we have experienced to guess what it seemed like centered mainly on those people enamel and vertebrae alone.

Was it a chunky muscle mass-unit like the great white? Was it far more smooth and slender like a blue shark, or pointy like a goblin shark? Did it have two heads? According to the latest research, the most effective response we now have is a… big shrug and the scientific edition of a “dunno”.

It appears it may well be time to rethink how we reconstruct the historic beast.

“The actuality,” writes a staff of researchers led by biologist Phillip Sternes of the College of California Riverside, “is that there are presently no scientific means to guidance or refute the accuracy of any of the beforehand printed physique forms of O. megalodon.” Ouch.

Primarily based on the fossil evidence, estimates for the size of megalodon fluctuate noticeably – from about 11 meters to about 40 meters (36 to 131 feet) in duration, but typically settling someplace all over 15 to 18 meters. It can be a interesting mystery, and even though we will under no circumstances know for sure, it is really attention-grabbing and edifying to test to slender it down.

Many designs believe that megalodon was a good deal like a fantastic white (Carcharodon carcharias), 1 of the ocean’s most intense predators, and the major predatory shark alive right now. The terrific white belongs to the Lamnidae loved ones of sharks, which has only five extant species.

These sharks are characterized by rapidly swimming speeds and partial warm-bloodedness, or regional endothermy – their venous blood is heated by their muscles. This keeps their swimming muscle mass and brains warm, and enhances their metabolisms. They can swim more quickly, endure colder environments, and hunt and digest foodstuff far more competently.

Megalodon did not belong to the Lamnidae family, but researchers feel it was intently relevant, an offshoot that diverged for the duration of the Cretaceous. It can be considered that it, as well, was partially heat-blooded, which would have offered the ancient monster the same rewards as its contemporary relatives. This would put megalodon in the purchase Lamniformes, which consists of Lamnidae.

Simply because of this near connection, experts ordinarily switch to lamnid sharks to try out to work out what megalodon looked like. They typical out the traits of a variety of lamnid sharks to derive a morphology that may well be approximately what we may have witnessed swimming the historic seas (if we experienced been all-around).

To see if there is merit to this approach, Sternes and colleagues examined the shapes of the five lamnid sharks used in a prior review reconstructing megalodon, and in contrast them to other, chilly-blooded sharks in the Lamniformes buy, employing in-depth, two-dimensional industry manual drawings.

They when compared heads, fins, tails and bodies, and eventually discovered no designs that distinguish lamnid sharks.

“Warm-bloodedness does not make you a in different ways shaped shark,” Sternes claims.

“I really encourage others to discover thoughts about its body form, and to research for the final treasure of a preserved megalodon fossil. Meanwhile, this outcome clears up some confusion about preceding findings and opens the door to other strategies after again.”

It’s again to the drawing board for megalodon – fairly virtually, really. Figuring out the form of the shadow that bore down on its hapless prey for 20 million decades is going to need a new solution. But that opens up thrilling new choices.

“The analyze may perhaps show up to be a step backward in science, but the continued mystery would make paleontology, the research of prehistoric lifestyle, a fascinating and interesting scientific field,” says paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada of DePaul College.

“The reality that we still will not know accurately how O. megalodon appeared retains our creativity going. This is just why the science of paleontology carries on to be an exciting educational area. We are going to continue seeking for much more clues in the fossil report.”

The research has been published in Historic Biology.