15 million years before movies likeJawsandOpen Watergave swimmers the heebie-jeebies, a prehistoric shark species calledOtodus megalodonreached gargantuan sizes.
Researchers have reassessed just how large the now-extinct beast would have beenand the results are fin-tastic.
In total, this individual would have been a whopping 54 feet long (16.4 meters).
An artistic rendering of an Otodus megalodon, not from the study addressed in this article. This interpretation makes megalodon look just like a great white shark, but new research suggests this was highly unlikely.© EvolutionIncarnate, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
If you think thats massive, youre in for a surprise.
The length of 24.3 meters is currently the largest possible reasonable estimate forO.
But what did a megalodon look like?
An illustration of the 80-foot (24.3 meter) megalodon. © DePaul University/Kenshu Shimada
But the new study has solidified the idea thatO.
megalodonwas not merely a gigantic version of the modern-day great white shark, supporting our previousstudy, Sternes explained.
The Massive, Ancient Megalodon Shark Was… What sets our study apart from all previous papers on body size and shape estimates ofO.
without changing their physical formotherwise, swimming would become too inefficient.
megalodon, concluded Shimada.
Lastly, while assuming that vertebrae sizes correlate with body length is logical, its not foolproof.
It remains to be seen whether future fossil discoveries will prove them right.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
And in a new study Friday, researchers have found that some of these bites are wholly defensive.
