Megalodon sharks average 16 meters long and weigh 50 tons. Maximum19m, 70t. Its largest individual may be 20.8 meters, some people think it is 23 meters, but so far no skeleton fossils as long as 23 meters have been found. Megalodon shark has been found to have the strongest bite force in the history of the earth, with an average bite force of 28 tons and a maximum bite force of 36 tons, and its tooth biting force far exceeds that of Tyrannosaurus Rex. ?
Appearance characteristics
Megalodon is a cartilaginous fish, and it is difficult to leave fossils in its bones. At present, only some triangular tooth fossils as big as the palm and several spinal fossils have been found. The teeth of adult Megalodon are generally10 ~16 cm long, and the longest is more than 18 cm.
Although the complete jawbone fossils have not been found, scientists have calculated that Megalodon is about 20 meters, weighs 90 tons and has a mouth diameter of 2.8 ~ 3 meters according to the size of teeth.
life habit
Megalodon is the top predator in the ocean, and is praised by many paleontologists as the strongest creature in the history of the earth. It can hunt any creature in the sea, but it likes to hunt whales best. Other marine mammals are also the food of Megalodon.
Adult Megalodon sharks hunt in the open ocean, while juvenile Megalodon sharks live in the offshore waters. In the era when Megalodon sharks lived, only Melville whales could match.
Extinction theory
The extinction of Megalodon is still an unsolved mystery. Scientists speculate that the water cycle of the earth changed about1500,000 years ago, and the decrease of upwelling made food scarce, which led to a large number of whales' death, and whales were the main food of Megalodon. In the end, Megalodon gradually became extinct because it could not find enough food, but it may also gradually evolve into other sharks.