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Megalodons might have been even enceinte than we first thought , raise up to 80 feet ( 24.3 meters ) long — 15 feet ( 4.5 m ) longer than previous predictions , consort to a young written report .
These monumental sharks may also have beenmore supple than originally conceive , the researchers say .
Scientists have long assumed megalodons looked like big great white sharks, but new research suggests this is not the case.
" Previous estimate using teeth to predict its size had the shark reaching about 18 - 20 meters total length ( 59 - 65 pes ) , " study conscientious objector - authorPhillip Sternes , an educator at SeaWorld San Diego , narrate Live Science in an electronic mail .
Megalodon rule the seas of ancient Earth between around20 million and 3.6 million year ago . No complete megalodon ( Otodus megalodon ) skeletons have ever been found , so our knowledge of these behemoths comes from fossil of their vertebra scales and teeth . The largest megalodon fossil ever found is a 36 - foot - long ( 11 m ) section of its spine , which would have been site in the trunk of its body .
In the new study , publish Sunday ( March 9 ) in the journalPalaeontologia Electronica , researchers examined megalodon fossils and compared them with more than 150 living and nonextant shark species to work up a better photo of just how bounteous this jumbo shark was .
The researchers have developed a revised tentative body outline of a 80 foot megalodon.
The researchers compared the proportions of the megalodon ’s automobile trunk with the body of 145 modern and 20 extinct shark species .
Related : What did ' the meg ' look like ? We have no estimation
Assuming that the megalodon was roughly proportional to the majority of other shark species , and extrapolating from the 36 - foundation ( 11 m ) trunk division , the researchers estimate that this individual may have had a 6 - fundament - long ( 1.8 m ) head and 12 - pes - long ( 3.6 m ) fag end , giving it a entire length of 54 feet ( 16.4 time ) .
Stock image of a lemon shark. Megalodons may have looked less like great white sharks and more like lemon sharks, scientists have found.
However , the largest megalodon vertebra ever encounter measured up to 9 inches ( 23 centimeters ) in diameter — 3 inches ( 7.6 centimetre ) with child than the large vertebra from the 54 - ft shark . descale up from this larger vertebra , and base on the late proportions , the megalodon it belonged to may have measure 80 foot long .
The researcher also found that the megalodon may have given birth to exist young measure out 12 to 13 feet ( 3.6 to 3.9 m ) long .
Megalodon shape
The research worker behind the fresh sketch also investigate the megaladon ’s shape .
Megalodon tooth fossils are serrated and resemble the teeth of modern - daygreat white sharks(Carcharodon carcharias ) , which previously led research worker to wear that megalodon looked similar to dandy White .
" Previous study simply assumed that megalodon must have looked like a gigantic version of the moderngreat white sharkwithout any evidence , " study lead authorKenshu Shimada , a palaeobiology professor at DePaul University in Chicago , told Live Science in an email .
However , accord to the raw study , the megalodon may have really looked more slender and streamlined .
Based on the retool maximum soundbox size , as well as hydrodynamic model of how big creatures like heavyweight sharks ( Rhincodon typus ) , savour shark ( Cetorhinus maximus ) and whales move through the water , the researchers reason that the megalodon was n’t thickset like a bang-up white and alternatively was more standardized to a gamboge shark ( genus Negaprion brevirostris ) .
However , until researchers find a large section of a megalodon ’s dead body in the fossil record , we wo n’t unfeignedly make love how large they could get , or what shape their bodies may have been .
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Jack Cooper , a megalodon researcher at Swansea University in the U.K. who was not involved in this new study , is n’t convert by the study author ' arguing that megalodon looked more like lemon shark than great whites .
" The hydrodynamic methods they use to try out to predominate out these other trunk forms are base primarily on heavyweight , which have wholly different skeleton in the closet and modes of swimming to shark ( i.e. , upright vs horizontal keister movements ) , " Cooper said . " As such , while the purpose consistence plan is possible , it should be cover as a working hypothesis and premature reconstruction ca n’t yet be definitively reign out . "
Shark quiz: How much do you know about these iconic ocean superstars?
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