When you purchase through link on our land site , we may earn an affiliate delegation . Here ’s how it works .
Megalodon , the braggy shark to have ever hold out , may not have expect like an ubergreat white sharkas is in the main arrogate — but or else may have been longer and thinner , scientists have divulge .
By reanalyzing the incomplete backbone of a fossilizedmegalodon(Otodus megalodon ) held at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences ( IRSNB ) in Brussels , the squad see variance inprevious reconstructions , which suggested these supersized shark had a body duration of around 52 feet ( 16 meters ) and a shape resembling great white shark .
Megalodon size and shape has been revised by researchers in a new study, but the findings have been met with criticism.
" The previously publish reconstructive memory of Megalodon skeleton and body soma looked very sticky , " Centennial State - authorKenshu Shimada , a paleobiologist at DePaul University in Chicago , told Live Science in an electronic mail .
The team of 26 shark experts revealed their finding in a new study , published Jan. 21 in the journalPalaeontologia Electronica .
gravid white sharks(Carcharodon carcharias)are often used as a model to inform estimates about megalodon ’s size of it and what it might have depend like . This is because shark skeletons are made largely of cartilage — which is less potential to be keep as fossils than bone — so scientist have only observe fossilized teeth and vertebra from megalodon . As a tight relative and apex predator with similar dieting and trait , expectant white are thought to be an appropriate fashion model .
The authors claim megalodon was longer and slimmer than previous reconstructions suggest.
come to : What did ' the million ' face like ? We have no approximation
In the Modern field , the researchers examined CT scans of a juvenile great white ’s vertebral skeleton and then compared it to the vertebra of the megalodon specimen . Their finding showed difference of opinion in the growth of the centrum — the substantial , central part of the vertebrae . In living Lamniform shark ( the fiat that megalodon and great whites belong to ) , centrum ontogenesis relates to girth , the squad wrote . The megalodon ’s vertebral column was found to be much thinner than the great white ’s , which they interpret as meaning the meg was far more slender than a gravid white .
Theprevious analysissuggested a vertebra distance of 36.4 feet ( 11.1 m ) , but the new finding indicate this would have been the minimum length . The researchers say megalodon was likely longer and slimmer , so it might not look like the great white shark model after all . " We still do n’t fuck the exact shape of its head , fins , or keister , " Shimada say .
Instead , megalodon might have resemble something close to a mako shark shark ( Isurus oxyrinchus ) , co - lead authorPhillip Sternes , a biologist at University of California Riverside , said in a affirmation .
So , how big could megalodon have been ? The researchers do n’t require to give a definitive distance without substantial grounds , but this unexampled selective information suggests it could have " easily " reached 50 feet ( 15 m ) long and may even have arrive at 66 feet ( 20 m ) " or possibly slightly more , " Shimada said .
" The reality is that we involve the discovery of at least one terminated Megalodon skeleton to be more confident about its lawful size as well as its body form , " Shimada said .
Despite questioning the findings from the previous study , the research team still believe it was important and say it was significant in help the squad reach its new conclusions . It ’s " an excellent object lesson of how science advances , " Shimada said .
The authors of the old study are not convinced by the new finding , however . Lead authorJack Cooper , a investigator at Swansea University in the U.K. , along with his colleaguesCatalina Pimiento , also at Swansea University , andJohn Hutchinson , at the Royal Veterinary College , say the Modern discipline is more of an alternative hypothesis that endure from " circular system of logic " — where an argument assumes its conclusion is right , and uses the conclusion to support the disceptation
— Could the megalodon still subsist today ?
— Megalodon shark mamas had human - sizing cannibal babies
— Great white sharks may have driven megalodon to experimental extinction
" Moreover , they do n’t really offer a new length estimation in their work , " they told Live Science in an email . The young study , they tote up , ignores the fact that the previous psychoanalysis considered multiple living instance of shark alive today , and that one of their models also showed an elongated dead body when based on great white sharks alone .
" Importantly , the ' elongated body ' interpretation is based on a undivided reflexion , a equivalence with a exclusive parallel , and lacks any statistical tests to support its hypothesis , " they said . " More critically , several face of the field are unacceptable for succeeding researchers to verify or replicate as the authors do not provide the in the raw data . "
T. rex may have acquire in North America after all , scientists say
Giant flying reptile were n’t only good at fly , they could walk among dinosaur too
Could a planet really develop a genius ?
