The largest shark in the world is megalodon. New facts about the life of megalodon

Oddly enough, the most famous prehistoric shark is still shrouded in mystery. After all, it is known mainly from its teeth and a small number of vertebrae. Latin name of the species comes from a pair of ancient Greek words for "big tooth". The reason is simple: the fish’s teeth were gigantic in size, just like the fish itself. It can be called one of the largest and most dangerous marine predators of all time.

Business card

Time and place of existence

A rich painting by Italian paleoartist Alberto Gennari: a megalodon begins to eat a whale. Restless seagulls are circling nearby, and smaller sharks have gathered in the depths, ready to snatch a piece at any opportunity.

Types and history of discovery

In this dynamic painting by Canadian artist Andrew Domachowski, a megalodon literally bursts into a living gathering with its mouth open.

By all indications, people have found fossil remains of megalodon and other prehistoric sharks since primitive times. However, the first fairly clear mention in the literature dates back to the Renaissance: the finds of huge triangular teeth extracted from rocks are described.

Naturally, in those days mythical and even mystical properties were easily attributed to these impressive artifacts. It was said that these were real confirmations of the existence of terrible dragons and giant snakes– their petrified tongues. There was even a common name - glossopetras (Latin word glossopetrae comes from the ancient Greek phrase "stone tongues").

However, even then there were scientists who were well acquainted with the anatomy of sharks. In 1667, the Danish anatomist and geologist Niels Stensen published his work "Elementorum myologiæ specimen, seu musculi descriptio geometrica: cui accedunt Canis Carchariæ dissectum caput, et dissectus piscis ex Canum genere", in which he notes the extraordinary similarity between glossopetra and teeth large shark, caught near the port city of Livorno (Italy) a year earlier.

His famous illustration from the treatise is presented, where we see the supposed head of a megalodon at the base of the teeth. It still appears in many books on the history of paleontology as one of the first paleontological discoveries.

However scientific description Megalodon was born only two hundred years later. In 1835, the Swiss naturalist Jean Louis Agassiz, using the knowledge on sharks accumulated by the 19th century, assigned the name Carcharodon megalodon to the owner of the huge fossil teeth. It happens within the book "Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles", which was completely completed in 1843.

Turkish illustrator Kerem Beyit shows us an attack on a pod of sperm whales from the depths.

At the beginning of the article, we explained the species name of megalodon. The Latin name of the genus, Carcharocles, comes from a pair of ancient Greek words for “glorious tooth” (Carcharodon - “ shark tooth"). Since then in different parts light, a huge number of fossilized megalodon teeth of various sizes were found. Some of them were deposited in museums, while others are in private collections.

Body structure

Comparison of an animal with a white shark and a diver from BBC artists.

And finally, a comparison of the megalodon with the average bus from documentary film "Prehistoric predators: Monster Shark" produced by National Geographic.

Unfortunately, megalodon is known only from numerous teeth, as well as fragments of the spine. This is directly related to the fact that the shark’s skeleton consists not of bones, but of cartilage: the likelihood of their fossilization is significantly less. Therefore, the full image of the ancient predator remains a mystery. Currently, most reconstructions are based on the structure of its possible relative, the white shark.

Megalodon moved, just like modern views, controlling movement in the water through several types of fins. He was capable of developing high speeds, so necessary for a swift attack and when chasing prey. The head is equipped with powerful trap-like jaws with several rows of sharp teeth.

Dr. Jeremiah Clifford, who specializes in skeletal reconstructions, stands in the jaws of a megalodon, holding the jaws of a white shark in his hands.

And now a rather spectacular comparison of a megalodon tooth with the teeth of a white shark.

Note also that the length of the largest tooth is about 18.5 centimeters diagonally. It was discovered by paleontologist Peter Larson of the Black Hills Geological Research Institute. This is the largest tooth for the entire existence of the superorder of sharks.

We present to your attention a photograph of a record-breaking megalodon tooth (in the foreground).

Bite force

Other aspects

Below are spectacular jaws in the beautiful interior of the American Museum of Natural History (New York, New York, USA).

Nutrition and lifestyle

Unlike its modern relative, the adult megalodon had almost no restrictions on its range of potential targets. Megalodon could attack alone both schools of small fish and very large whales. This made it possible to become a real thunderstorm of the oceans, a marine resemblance to a tyrannosaurus. A superpredator over a fairly long chronological interval. At the same time, megalodon had different attack strategies for each type of animal, which is also observed in sharks today.

An unusual illustration by English paleoartist Robert Nichols. A herd of Anancus was carried out to sea by a tsunami that suddenly arrived on the calm sea shores. Their dead bodies drifted for some time until the spreading smell attracted the attention of huge ancient sharks. A pair of adult megalodons and one cub took advantage of the opportunity, not at all shying away from the taste of decomposition.

And here a living Platybelodon was attacked in shallow water. Sometimes young megalodons could hunt in shelf seas and, moreover, swim very close to the shore. Author: Canadian paleoartist Julius Csotonyi.

Let us note that the total capacity of the arsenal is not comparable with analogues of its contemporaries. Moreover, even the teeth were somewhat stronger than those of the latter: thicker and wider, with a massive base.

Comparison of the teeth of a megalodon (left) and a great white shark (right) at the same scale from Prehistoric Wildlife.

They were adapted to the high loads that arise during the hunt for perfectly protected animals. As fossils show, megalodon tried to inflict critical injuries by attacking important organs and motor systems. The force of the bite was so great that even bones were cracked. And these were not only multi-meter thick-skinned whales (from the families of sperm whales and smooth whales to dolphins), but also giant sea turtles.

3D scene of a megalodon attacking sea ​​turtle from the Discovery Channel series Shark Week: Sharkzilla.

Other potential victims include smaller cetaceans, as well as pinnipeds and sirenians.

A very large megalodon is chasing a mammal from the order of sirens - the dugong.

Odobenocetops and Brygmophyseter, which appear in documentaries, could theoretically also be targets.

And this is not the full range of marine animals. Since megalodon existed for many millions of years, it managed to meet and survive more than one evolutionary generation of sea inhabitants. With a high probability, megalodons also ate representatives of other sharks. It is also important to say that the diet of very young individuals differed significantly from the diet of adults: the proportion small fish and shellfish in it was significantly higher.

Video

A fragment from the popular science series "Shark Week: Sharkzilla". Megalodon attacks various representatives of the ancient fauna.

Excerpt from the documentary "Fight Club" Jurassic period: Sea Hunters." A member of a pack of ancient brigmophyseters is attacked. Note that the size of the latter is greatly overestimated here.

Fragment of the feature-documentary film "Walking with sea ​​monsters"Observation of megalodon in its native habitat.

Literature

1. Wroe, S.; Huber, D. R.; Lowry, M.; McHenry, C.; Moreno, K.; Clausen, P.; Ferrara, T. L.; Cunningham, E.; Dean, M. N.; Summers, A. P. (2008).

The largest carnivorous marine animal that ever existed was the prehistoric monster megalodon - a direct relative of the modern great white shark.

It is believed that megalodons became extinct more than two million years ago, when in the Pliocene the climate cooled and the shelf seas, with the food familiar to megalodons, were covered with glaciers. Traces of these huge ancient fish were found in the rocks of India, North Africa, Australia, Japan, Belgium and many other countries.

The most common teeth of the entire skeleton are the teeth of an extinct sea creature: the diagonal height of one megalodon tooth can reach 18 cm - not a single creature that existed in the ocean had teeth of this size.

However, here’s the strange thing - archaeologists began to find relatively young remains of megalodon - aged 10,000 - 8,000 years ago. Moreover, reports began to appear from experienced crews of various sea vessels who saw a huge yellowish back with a characteristic fin in the waves. Does all this mean that the prehistoric fish did not become extinct?

Yes, we can admit that sailors are mistaken when they confuse the silhouette of a megalodon with the silhouette of a whale shark. But how can we explain the fact that the fish seen by the Christina’s crew reached 35-37 meters in length? Even if you reduce this figure by half, there are no whale sharks of this size. But what kind of creature was this?

The news spread throughout the world as a sensation when, in 1954, 17 huge teeth stuck in the wood were found in the bottom of the ship Rachel Cohen, which was docked for repairs in the Adelaide dry dock. The width of each incisor reached 8 cm, length - 10 cm. By the way, even the size of the teeth of a great white does not exceed 6 cm.

The teeth embedded in the bottom were located in a semicircle - a bite characteristic of sharks, near a bent propeller, and the diameter of the semicircle was about 2 m. The captain later recalled how the ship shuddered off the island of Timor (Indonesia). Later analysis showed that the teeth actually belonged to a megalodon. So giant predators are somewhere nearby?

More recently, megalodon teeth began to be found on Baltic beaches - in Otradnoye, Pionersk and Svetlogorsk. Over four years, starting in 2008, about 800 huge teeth that once belonged to prehistoric creatures were found.

Off the coast of Tahiti, a research vessel with a dredge found unfossilized megalodon teeth; their age did not exceed 11,000 years. From a geological point of view, animals whose presence remains undiscovered for more than 400,000 years can be considered extinct.

And here it’s only 11,000 years! By the way, the goblin shark was considered extinct back in the Pliocene. Its teeth were not found, its silhouette was not seen, so it was deservedly included in the list of prehistoric fish.

And suddenly, unexpectedly, they found the goblin shark itself, not even its young remains, but a completely alive individual itself. And not even one. The revived relic was floating at great depths. Maybe a megalodon is also swimming somewhere nearby?

If we assume where she could wait unfavourable conditions all this time a giant carnivorous shark, then most likely paleontologists call the Mariana Trench - the fourth pole of the planet.

Only two people sank to the bottom of the Mariana Gorge. And they saw nothing there except deep-sea invertebrates. After this, ocean sensors and sonars began to explore the depression. They then recorded the movements of massive bodies of strange animals at the bottom. Many scientists believe that surviving representatives of Carcharodon megalodon may well be hiding at great depths.

Moreover, the bottom of the gorge is dotted with the teeth of a prehistoric monster. Paleontologists say that megalodon, like other ancient animals, could wait out unfavorable times here, at the fourth pole of the planet, where active hydrothermal vents erupt. The Mariana Trench is quite a suitable place.

It turns out that periodic rumors that a giant shark was seen somewhere may be true? Perhaps the megalodon was leaving its shelter to make sure that the world above had become quite suitable for existence?

If this is so, very soon, when global warming leads to warming of the waters of the world's oceans, we will again be able to see the ruler of salt waters - the huge Carcharodon shark megalodon.

As for the Mariana Trench, according to some ichthyologists, due to the presence of active hydrothermal springs, colonies of prehistoric marine animals that have survived to this day may exist at its bottom.

There is evidence that in 1918, lobster fishermen from the city of Port Stephens (Australia) saw an amazing transparent white fish 35 meters long in the sea. It was clear that this fish had surfaced from great depths. Many researchers believe that the Mariana Trench hides in its unexplored depths the last surviving representatives of the giant prehistoric shark of the species Carcharodon megalodon. Based on the few surviving remains, scientists have recreated the appearance of the megalodon. This predator lived in the seas 2–2.5 million years ago and was of monstrous size: about 24 meters long, weighing 100 tons, and the width of its mouth dotted with 10-centimeter teeth reached 1.8–2.0 m - a megalodon could easily swallow automobile.

Recently, while exploring the bottom Pacific Ocean, oceanologists have found perfectly preserved megalodon teeth. One of the finds was 24 thousand years old, and the other was even younger - 11 thousand years old! So, not all megalodons went extinct 2 million years ago?

During one of the dives in the Mariana Trench area, the German research vehicle Haifish with a crew on board, being at a depth of 7 km, unexpectedly “refused” to surface. Trying to understand the reason for this, the hydronauts turned on the infrared camera. What they saw at first seemed to them a collective hallucination: a huge creature, similar to a prehistoric lizard, grabbed the body of the bathyscaphe with its teeth, trying to chew it like a nut... Having come to their senses, the crew activated a device called an “electric gun.” Affected powerful discharge, the monster unclenched its terrible jaws and disappeared into the darkness of the abyss...

The dive of the American unmanned bathyscaphe platform into the abyss of the Mariana Trench has sensationally completed. Equipped with powerful searchlights, highly sensitive sensors and television cameras, it sank into the depths of the ocean using a steel net woven from 20 mm thick cables. After the submersible reached the bottom, cameras and microphones did not record anything significant for several hours. And then suddenly, silhouettes of strange huge bodies flashed on the television monitors in the beams of spotlights. When the device was hastily raised to the surface, part of its structures turned out to be bent.

And in 2004, the British magazine New Scientist spoke in detail about mysterious sounds in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, detected by underwater sensors American system SOSUS tracking. It was created in the years " cold war"to monitor Soviet submarines. Experts who studied the recordings of signals from highly sensitive hydrophones identified, against the background noise representing the “call signs” of various marine inhabitants, a much more powerful sound, clearly emitted by some creature living in the ocean.

This mysterious signal, first recorded in 1977, is much more powerful than the infrasounds with which large whales communicate with each other at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from each other.

We have already briefly analyzed the main “parameters” of the life of Megalodon based on scientific and research data that were at our disposal - nutrition, anatomy, biological features, etc.

Of course, the main question about Megalodon is its localization, i.e. the place of his supposed habitat.

Ancient sharks activate

First, let's look at the panorama of the discovery of ancient or rare species sharks for Lately in the World Ocean.

• more and more often information is coming about the capture of ancient goblin sharks near the mainland of Australia;
• scientists found 2 rare specimens of largemouth sharks (in Japan in May 2014 and in the Philippines in January 2015);
• prehistoric frilled sharks caught off the coast of Australia in January and February.

Let us immediately note the geographic location of the appearance of individuals of these shark species.

Now let's take a look at the cases of representatives of "food attractiveness" washed up on the shore for sharks - seals, fur seals, lions, dolphins and even the sharks themselves.

Several similar events occurred in the first months of 2015.:

• in Australia, a pack of 51 fur seals washed ashore;
• about 200 dolphins washed ashore in New Zealand;
• in the USA (Southern California), 223 sea lions were found washed up on the coast;
• then New Zealand appears again - about 200 whales washed ashore;
• the paradoxical discovery of a 4-meter great white shark on the coast of Greece.

Of course, such cases of suicide are phenomena that are periodically repeated and, in principle, not yet precisely explained by scientists.

There is talk about mysterious diseases that simultaneously affected various types of marine animals, loss of orientation, unknown viruses and other assumptions.

However, researchers studying the biology of life of Megalodons and other ancient animals can offer their own unexpected interpretation on this issue! Namely: all episodes of beaching were provoked by the activity of Megalodon!

As arguments, experts suggest paying attention to tests taken from affected animals. In all cases, the blood of the victims was oversaturated with adrenaline! Hormone of fear!

Moreover, according to the rescuers themselves, the frightened animals did not want to return to the ocean, making attempts to return to land again when they were dragged into the water during rescue operations.

By the way, there were no signs of injuries or bites on the bodies of mammals in these particular incidents, which allows assumptions that Megalodon (or several of its individuals) either did not attack them at all, or killed them accurately and immediately, without giving the victim the opportunity to leave. This often happens in shark attacks, when the predator, after the first tooth test, either completely eats the victim or loses interest in it.

Consequently, the flocks of these suicidal animals washed ashore were not even driven by the fear of becoming hunted more than large predator, but an instinctive desire to leave the territory of his hunt at any cost.

White sharks or young Megalodons? Giant sharks killed a pod of killer whales
(New Zealand)

So, back to geography. Previously, we assumed that the place of modern existence of Megalodon sharks is the Mariana Trench, which was indicated by a number of reasons, including the peculiarities of its feeding.

Looking at the map, we will find that the Mariana Trench is surrounded by Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Based on the localization of the appearance of ancient sharks and episodes of animal releases, as an indirect assumption of their reaction to the appearance of a huge predator, it is this geographical contour that is the most likely place for the appearance of the prehistoric Megalodon shark.

Australia - nursery for young Megalodons

At first glance, it looks strange that Megalodon ignores seals, lions, seals, etc., which are valuable in terms of nutritional value.

It is surprising that this giant managed to avoid bleeding at all in the ocean near its habitat, although several cases did occur.

We know practically nothing about this great predator, and, most likely, in the near future some amazing discovery of the features of its existence will again await us.

For analysis, let's take the life of its close relative - Carcharodon. Often in episodes of shark attacks on people, incidents occurred when the victim of the attack “got off with fright” or very minor injuries, although he was too accessible and, according to the logic of such situations, should not have remained alive.

Then experts said that a baby shark took part in the attack, which had not yet acquired the skills of a competent attack or was just learning to hunt.

Scientists currently know the places of birth and maturation of young individuals of Carcharodon, which are entire shark nurseries - water areas with relatively shallow depth and current, which are characterized by an abundant biocenosis and the absence of natural enemies.

One such nursery for the great white shark is coastal zone in the state of New South Wales in Australia. Regularly once a year, female white sharks appear in this water area to hatch young sharks.

Perhaps the zone we noted above precisely belongs to this category of kindergarten, but only for Megalodon.

Here we invite readers to turn to the map again and include another position in consideration - the Isthmus of Panama.

It’s interesting, but when the hypothesis about a manger for a historical monster was still only timidly expressed, it unexpectedly found counter confirmation for the researchers themselves. The fact is that at the bottom of Lake Gatun, in the Isthmus of Panama, significant quantities of well-preserved teeth were found at one time.

Of course, the teeth of such a giant themselves are an invaluable find, but these were remarkable for another circumstance: the teeth belonged to cubs, whose age at that time was no more than 2 years (the result of calculation by the ratio of the length of the tooth to the total length of the animal).

This means that Megalodon “organized” a nursery in this water area for young individuals a very long time ago, and the functioning of this territory obviously did not stop for centuries.

Watch the video “What a young Megalodon looks like”:

The question arises, why doesn’t Megalodon leave offspring in Mariana Trench, where does he live? Does it swim specifically for this purpose in almost shallow coastal waters?

Scientists have yet to answer this question. In the meantime, there is an assumption that the baby of this huge shark still needs sunlight, which is inaccessible at depth. And that the food of this predator during adolescence should be affordable both in terms of quantity and ease of hunting.

It is the facts of fossil finds, as well as the peculiarity of the water area itself between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (a huge area of ​​shallow water, which was not deep enough for the natural enemies of Megalodon, but optimally safe for its offspring) that make this geographical location ideal for organizing a kindergarten there for his cubs.

Some researchers make serious assumptions that Australian waters will soon become an alternative to the Isthmus of Panama - optimal climate and availability large quantity easily accessible food will attract Megalodons to breed in this area of ​​the World Ocean.

Technique for detecting Megalodons in the ocean

Having come to these conclusions, scientists have moved noticeably closer to the habitats of prehistoric giant sharks. Now all that remains is to track down the female Megalodon (which is more difficult), or her offspring (which is easier, due to their natural carelessness).

Modern ocean researchers will soon be equipped with a unique sound detection technology - acoustic hydrophones, which have already been tested in the Mariana Trench and have given amazing results in detecting huge objects there.

Especially for these purposes, engineers from the NOAA Bureau of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research created the first hydrophone that can withstand enormous pressures. ocean depths, equipped with modern electronics, a disk for recording data, a powerful amplifier and a high-capacity power supply.

Now that the specific localization of not only Megalodon, but also its offspring has been identified, the time to meet it, as they say, is a matter of technology.