If you imagine a megalodon, chances are that you will imagine what will come down to a gigantic amazing white shark. The image is understandable, given that almost every image of the old Apex predators in research and pop culture. But last year an international team brought forward a new anatomical design based on their analysis of incomplete fossilized vertebrae. According to the researchers, the famous megalodone was probably “more slim and possibly even longer“Then the prevailing theory. Instead of a great white one, the team offered slimmer Mako sharks for a frame of reference.
The hypothesis began a heated debate among paleobiologists, many of whom claimed that the evidence still simply did not support gigantic prehistoric Makos. Unfortunately, a follow-up study will probably not satisfy anyone who does not agree with the Mako idea either. According to many of the authors of the original study, megalodons might have been even longer and slimmer than they first suggested. In terms of the current shark parallels you think less “mako” and more “lemon”.
The revised form and size is detailed in a paper published on March 9 in the magazine Palaeontologia Electronics. After comparing parts of the spine of a megalodon with more than 100 species of living and extinct shark species, researchers now estimate that the megalodon may have decreased on about 80 feet long, or about two school buses, while they are no less than 94 tons of road network as massive as a blue whale. For reference, the dominant megalodon theory she places on 50-65 feet long and 53-115 tons. Based on their conclusions, even newborn megalodons were considerable beings, and probably measured as large as a modern adult of adults.
“It is quite possible that Megalodon puppies already deposited Marine Mammals shortly after being born,” argued Phillip Sternes, a co-author of both articles, in a corresponding explanation. Sternes also argues the latest study “offers the most robust analysis so far from the body size and form of megalodon.”
“Instead of looking like an oversized big white shark, it actually looked more like a huge lemon shark, with a more slim, elongated body,” he said. “That form is much more logical to move through water efficiently.”
While the large, torpedo-like frame of the big white shark makes it perfect for rapid eruptions of speed, the lemon shark evolved for energy-efficient, persistent ocean cruises. This concept of evolutionary efficiency also played in the alternative theory of the team. Tim Highham, co-author and biologist at the University of California Riverside, offered Olympic swimmers as a comparison.
“You lead with your head when you swim because it is more efficient than leading your belly,” he explained in a statement. “Likewise, evolution often moves to efficiency.”
If there is a Team Citroen (formerly Team Mako) and Team Great White may find a common basis, it is megalodon speed. Instead of a high-speed hunter or a slower, methodic hunter, the authors of the study suggest a balance in which the sharks generally swam at a moderate pace while they can attack in fast bursts.
“Gigantism is not only about getting bigger – it’s about evolving the right body to survive on that scale,” said Sternes. “And Megalodon was perhaps one of the most extreme examples.”
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