Megalodon tooth

Description

Megalodon tooth - life size The Megalodon (Otodus megalodon) was the largest and most powerful shark that ever lived, dominating the oceans for some 20 million years. Size and Strength Length: It is estimated that it measured between 15 and 18 meters, although recent studies suggest that some specimens may have reached 24 meters. Weight: It could weigh up to 50 or 60 tons. Bite: It had a devastating bite force, estimated between 108,000 and 182,000 Newtons, which is equivalent to about 18.6 tons. This force was approximately 10 times that of a modern great white shark and powerful enough to crush a car. Teeth: Its teeth were the size of a human hand (up to 18-20 cm) and it possessed about 280 distributed in several rows. When did it live and why did it become extinct? Period: It appeared 20 million years ago in the Cenozoic Era, specifically from the Miocene and became extinct about 3.6 million years ago in the Pliocene. Causes of extinction: It is mainly attributed to global cooling, which reduced the warm waters where it lived, and to the scarcity of food, added to competition with new predators such as killer whales and the great white shark. Compared to the Great White Shark, this animal was not simply a giant white shark; its bodies were more robust and its hunting habits included massive prey such as whales and large sea turtles.