The oceans with depths of thousands of meters draw us humans in with their splendor and fright. In these deep waters, there are creatures that will destroy us in one fell swoop. Even today, when we enter a bottomless water in the ocean, most people will feel fear. Of course, this fear is very normal, as it is not clear what will come from the depths. What if we took a look at the past, which was home to creatures that look much bigger and more frightening than those of today.
The most feared creature in the seas and oceans today is probably the great white shark. Known for their gigantic build, fearsome appearance, and killing many people, great white sharks can be a sweet goldfish next to the creature we’re going to talk about today. Yes, today we’re going to tell you about megalodons, which are thought to be the ancestors of the great whites, but are now misinterpreted. With their gigantic dimensions, megalodons, which had determined prey to all living things in the sea, big and small, were indeed a creature with a jaw width of 2.7 x 3.4 meters, which he could be sure was probably the last memory of anyone who came across it.
Let’s get to know the largest shark megalodon that has ever lived in the oceans
Megalodons, a type of shark, are gigantic carnivores reaching 15 – 16 meters in length. Although they are said to reach 20 meters in length according to some sources, these fish are generally thought to reach 16 meters. It was not easy to feed such a big fish. Megalodons, which hunted whales that fed on small aquatic creatures even though they were giants like themselves, followed different tactics depending on the size of the creature they attacked. Its jaw, which it opened to the size of a small chamber, was covered with 276 teeth and had a bite force of 108,514 to 182,201 Newtons (N). To better understand this power, the bite force of a human jaw is 1,317 N, and the bite force of a white shark is 18,216 N.
Is the statement “Megalodon is a greater white shark” correct?
Until recently, research had shown that the megalodon resembled a gigantic great white shark. Today, this is believed to be false. Compared to the great white shark, megalodons had a shorter snout and a flatter, squashed-looking jaw. Like the blue shark, it had long pectoral fins to support its weight and size.
Megalodon was thought to be the larger version of the great white shark because these two species were thought to be related. Today, it is known that this kinship link is not real, and that the megalodon itself is descended from a different shark lineage, of which it is the last member. The earliest known ancestor of the megalodon is a shark species known as Otodus obliquus. It is thought that the lineage of this 10-meter-long shark extends to Cretelamna appendiculata. This reveals that the lineage of megalodon goes back over 100 million years.
Why did the megalodon go extinct?
Imagine a creature that has no rival with its gigantic dimensions. Why could this creature, which kills and eats anything it wants, become extinct? Of course, the biggest reason here is thought to be hunger. Evidence for megelodons, which went extinct during the Pliocene period, when the planet entered the global cooling phase, shows that these creatures became extinct 3.4 million years ago.
Scientists believe that due to global cooling, one-third of all large marine animals die from cold, which harms the creatures at the top of the food chain. In other words, these gigantic megalodons perished because they could not meet their really high nutritional needs, namely starvation.
Could megalodons still exist?
We have still explored a very small part of the seas. For this reason, it is a frequently debated issue that megalodons may still exist. Although such issues are discussed, we can say that such a thing is not very possible. Since Megalodons were not deep-ocean creatures, we would certainly have seen them if they had lived.
What do you guys think about this gigantic sea creature? We explained the perfect predator, the megalodon, and why this creature is not today. Do not forget to share your feelings and thoughts with us in the comments section.
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