megalodon
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The Massive, Ancient Megalodon Shark Was… Skinny?
O. megalodon, my megalodon. The gargantuan shark that prowled the Miocene seas has long captured the imagination because of its stupendous 60-foot length—three times the size of the largest great white sharks. But now, a team of researchers suggests that the extinct apex predator’s body shape was slightly different than expected. The enormous O. megalodon…
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Extinct Megalodons Swam Slower to Eat More, New Research Suggests
Sharks are often imagined as lethal predators with rows of razor-sharp teeth and capable of zipping through the water at high speeds. But it seems in the case of the famous prehistoric shark Otodus megalodon, only one of those premises holds true. In a study published in Historical Biology, a team of researchers describe very…
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No Thanks: An Ancient Megalodon Could Swallow a Great White Shark Whole
In a new 3D modelling study published this week in Science Advances, we show that the giant extinct shark, Otodus megalodon, was a true globetrotting super-predator. It was capable of covering vast distances in short order, and could eat the largest of modern living super-predators, the killer whale, in five gargantuan bites. It could have…
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Something Wiped Out Nearly All Sharks 19 Million Years Ago, New Research Suggests
Scientists have stumbled upon a previously unknown extinction event that decimated ocean shark populations 19 million years ago. The cause of this sudden die-off, in which global shark populations plummeted by 90%, is a complete mystery.