The Megalodon: The largest Shark that ever existed

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The Megalodon: The largest Shark that ever existed

The Megalodon shark was the meanest predator ever to set foot in the water.

Known by its scientific name Carcharodon megalodon,which literally translates to “big tooth” the Megalodon is the largest species of predator that’s ever been on the planet.

Good thing for us they’re extinct. These bad boys lived more than 2.6 million years ago, and despite sightings of massive sharks and wild conspiracy theories, most scientists agree they are, in fact, extinct.

Phew.

Now we’ve only got fossils to go from so we’re not all that sure of what it looked like exactly, but most experts agree that it was like a stockier version of a great white. Imagine that. A shark that would grow to be 60 feet in length, and weigh anywhere from 50 to 70 tonnes. It truly was a monster, and there’s nothing like it in the ocean to this day. Or even the rest of the world. We see the tyrannosaurus rex all over Jurassic Park, but even she is smaller than the Megalodon (a tyrannosaurus rex grew to about 40 feet).

To give you another comparison. The modern great white shark gets to 20 feet. Heck, even in Jaws, the robot shark (aptly called Bruce) was designed to be 25 feet.

Now imagine that. The shark that was terrorizing all those people in one of the most cult shark films of the century, was under half the size of a fully grown Megalodon. Half. The Megalodon was huge. And there’s been nothing like it ever again.

I love sharks, but just the thought of there being something this big in the water is terrifying.

Not only that. Think for a second on how to actually feed something this big. It’s most likely these sharks hunted anything that crossed their path, which includes the giant turtles, squid and of course the whales in the ocean of the day. Against the biggest creature in the ocean today, the Blue Whale. Despite the bigger size (blue whales get to about 100 feet in length), you can bet it would lose a fight to a Megalodon.

Ever walked under a whale skeleton in a museum?

That should give you an idea of the size we’re talking about. You would probably be swallowed whole by one of these sharks if it came across you in the water.

And if it bit you? You’d be in trouble. The great white shark has about 1.8 tons of force per square inch in each bite, and a study done (based on the teeth size and fossils we do have) indicate the Megalodon had a bite force between 10.8 and 18.2 tons. Enough to pop the skull of a blue whale like you would a grape. Absolutely insane.

Shortlist of fun facts about the megalodon:

• The largest known predator in the history of the world.
• Teeth larger than 7 inches have been found all over the world.
• The Megalodons diet consisted of whales and they could bite smaller ones in half.
• The jaw measures approximately 11 feet across and 9 feet tall.

The Megalodon is without a doubt the biggest monster of the deep.