We travel to prehistory to remember a shark that lived 19 million years ago. His name is the shark megalodon. This name comes from the Greek language and means "big tooth". It lived during the Cenozoic and Pliocene times and was one of the most impressive creatures on our entire planet. It is currently extinct, so there are no more specimens.
We are going to tell you all the characteristics, curiosities and secrets of the megalodon shark.
Key features
It is a species of shark that, in terms of taxonomy, is in the Lamnidae family. On this subject there is a lot of controversy in the world of science since, we are talking about a species that humans have not seen with their own eyes. Therefore, there are scientists who place this species in the Otodontidae family.
All the characteristics of this animal must be recognized from its fossil form. It is a shark that based its body mainly on cartilage. It is not known exactly what its real size is. Only some estimates are known that they point out that they could measure between 14 and 20 meters long. In order to estimate this length, the length of its teeth is taken as a reference compared to what could be defined as the current version of the megalodon. We are talking about White shark.
Regarding its weight, scientists have been able to reach a conclusion that the megalodon shark could have weighed close to 50 tons. This has made us rethink the dimensions that this shark could have had. An animal with about 50 tons can be very dangerous for humans and more so considering that it is a carnivore.
Description
The ancient oceans of our planet had the megalodon as their main predator. It is as if we compare the white shark of today but with a very exaggerated size. It is as if it could belong to a class called "super predators" where we include other species such as Mosasaurus and Pliosaurus. These animals had no natural predators and were at the top of the entire food chain.
Regarding his head, it can be said that his black eyes were quite penetrating and it was the least highlighted of his entire head, since his mouth was the most impressive. This mouth had a length of 2 meters and was composed of at least 280 teeth of an enormous size. The teeth were triangular in shape, robust and saw-shaped. Each belly exceeded 13 centimeters in length. His overwhelming strength was what stood out the most about this shark. And is that its bite was so strong that it could crush 18 tons, a force more than enough to destroy the bones of any prey.
As for its fins, it had a dorsal fin that could be seen from afar with a morphology similar to that of a ship's sail. All of its limbs were quite long, but that didn't make it a slow shark. The pectoral fins were the ones that provided the most speed since they could be propelled along with the tail. It is possible that they could have been fins thicker and larger than those of the great white shark.
Its tail was exactly the same as that of the white shark. It absorbed oxygen through the gills on the sides of its body. To avoid drowning, kept his whole body moving constantly. Gill floors did not have an absorption system like our lungs have. Therefore, he had to keep in constant motion.
Range and feeding area of the megalodon shark
Not everything is known for sure about this shark, but there have been various studies on it. These studies have revealed that this predator was present in all the oceans of our planet during Neogene. It has also been possible to find some remains of this species in territories as different from each other such as the Canary Islands, the Asian continent, Australia and America. This leads us to the conclusion that it has remained distributed throughout all the oceans of the planet.
With regard to food, it is one of the largest carnivores in all of history. It was capable of devouring almost any type of animal, from turtles to other types of sharks and even whales. With its teeth and its great biting capacity it could destroy the bones for any type of prey. It should also be taken into account that it is a large size and strength made them have a great intimidation to other smaller animals.
With its nearly 280 teeth it was capable of crushing anything weighing up to 20 tons. It was practically impossible for any of its prey to escape its teeth. Another characteristic that stands out when it comes to feeding was its great dexterity when it comes to moving through waters and through all kinds of marine morphology. With the immensity of its fins and the dexterity at the time of moving, there was hardly any prey that could escape.
Regarding your life expectancy, It is estimated that the megalodon shark had a life expectancy between 50 and 100 years.
Hunting strategy
Since we are talking about a super predator, this shark in its adult stage or could eat all kinds of large animals. He had a voracious appetite that forced him to spend most of his life looking for food. It is estimated that he could eat up to 2500 pounds of fish a day.
To carry out this intense letter he had various strategies. One was his camouflage. The color of her skin made her an excellent surprise. His skin was white or on the bottom and dark gray on the top. Who saw it from the bottom up could not tell if the clear water fled from the shark. On the contrary, those who saw it from above to below could not notice that it was there because of the darkness of the depth. This is the camouflage that megalodon possessed and that was used to capture their prey.
His strategy was based on attacking the target from the bottom taking a great boost thanks to the speed that his tail gave him. It opened its mouth quickly and damaged vital parts so that the prey could not move. It ripped out these vital parts with great bites, leaving a huge open wound that was impossible to heal. He waited for the animal to bleed to death and proceeded to eat.
I hope this information helps you to know more about the megalodon.