Megalodon was for decades thought to be the largest shark to ever inhabit Earth’s oceans, but a new study of its fossil remains published on Monday describes it as thinner than previously thought, AFP and Agerpres reported.

So far, researchers have estimated that Megalodon, which disappeared from the oceans 3.6 million years ago, was between 15 and 20 meters long. This error can be explained by the small number of fossils, teeth and incomplete sets of vertebrae that remain.

A classic image of a megalodon compared to a great white shark (PHOTO: JOSE ANTONIO PENAS / Sciencephoto / Profimedia)

First of all, it is given the same impressive profile as the only large shark in existence today, the great white. Not so, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Palaeontologia Electronica, which describes a slimmer animal modeled after the modern Mako shark.

“Our team re-examined the fossil and found that Megalodon was much thinner” than previously thought, biologist Phillip Stearns of the University of California, Riverside, said in a statement.

“However, it was a formidable predator at the top of the marine food chain,” he added. Based on this new analysis, the researchers attributed a very specific behavior to it. Megalodon would not have needed to be hunted often because of its very long digestive tract, befitting its large size.

A new hypothesis about the extinction of megalodon from the oceans

Its very large size could become a disadvantage when larger, but also faster predators appeared. Megalodon may not have been a strong swimmer compared to the great white, said study co-author Kenshu Shimada, a paleobiologist at De Paul University in Chicago.

One theory that explains the disappearance of Odontus megalodon is that its prey became increasingly scarce. But Philip Sternes suggests a different scenario.

“I think a combination of factors led to its extinction, but one of them may have been the arrival of the great white shark, which may have been more agile and therefore a better predator than the megalodon,” he said.

To have an accurate idea of ​​the actual shape of the animal, it is necessary to obtain a more complete skeleton than the few available elements, according to Kenshu Shimada.

He added that “the fact that we don’t know exactly what Otodus megalodon looked like gives free rein to our imaginations.” And the creators of the film, AFP journalists note.

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