The most terrible monsters of the deep sea: Megalodon and Melville's leviathan. The most terrible monsters of the deep sea: Megalodon and Melville's leviathan Who is stronger than the sperm whale or Megalodon

Legends of terrible monsters are not always completely fictional. The reality of some stories is confirmed from time to time by archaeologists.

Megalodons - huge sharks

According to the official version, megalodons are terrifying shark sizes that existed from 28 to 3.0 million years ago. Judging by the fossilized remains found, the animal could weigh up to 47 tons and reach an average length of about 15 meters.

In 1875, a scientific expedition to explore the ocean aboard the Challenger ship took soil from a depth of 1220 meters. Among the "catch" were two teeth of the megalodon. It was immediately noted that these were not fossils! In 1959, teeth were analyzed and dated. The result was amazing, the teeth were 11 thousand years old! The find was made in Polynesia near the island of Tahiti.

This is far from the only evidence. In 1918, a huge fin was sighted off the coast of Australia in the New South Wells area. According to eyewitnesses, it was a huge white shark about 30 meters long.

Fishing tackle and mooring gear were easily swept away by the monster. The ichthyologist who recorded this story noted that these were fishermen who knew the inhabitants of the local depths well and knew what was possible.

It is noteworthy that the owners of fishing vessels were afraid to go to sea for many days. This incident is described in David Stead's 1963 Sharks and Rays of the Australian Seas.

The most terrible sea monsters that really existed

The indigenous population of Polynesia has a very ancient legend about the lord of the depths. She talks about a ghostly white giant shark. The locals treat its size and power with mystical horror and awe. It is for these qualities that the monster was nicknamed "The Lord of the Depths." Maybe this is the megalodon that survived the ice age in the depths of the ocean? The answer to this question has not yet been found. The world of cinema does not want to put an end to this story, with enviable constancy showing us the bloody monsters from the depths of the sea.

Melville's Leviathan

Melville's Leviathan is an extinct carnivorous Miocene sperm whale. In 2008, a three-meter skull with teeth was discovered by specialists near the city of Ica in Peru. Scientists say that the structure of the skull suggests that the monster could only hunt near the surface, preferring to feed on marine mammals, including whales.

We know quite well about the sea lizards of the Mesozoic, their remains were found a lot and they amaze our imagination with skeletons, teeth and skulls. The situation is different with regard to the extinct giant carnivorous marine mammals - they are not well known to popularizers. Until very recently, finding fossil whales was a rare success.

Last year, in the summer of 2010, scientists found fragments of the fossilized jaw of a giant extinct "sperm whale" that lived in the oceans 12-13 million years ago and hunted other whales. Its size is amazing.

The authors of the discovery were Oliver Lambert from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels and Giovanni Bianucci from the University of Pisa in Italy, discovered fragments of a fossilized whale jaw in a geological formation in the Ica Desert in Peru, already known to many paleontologists for its artifacts.

Place of find

The researchers named the newly described species of sperm whales "Leviathan melvillei" after Herman Melville, author of a book about the sea monster - the whale Moby Dick.

According to the authors of the find carried out by the authors of the article, the skull was preserved by 75% and had a length of about three meters. Based on the size of the skull, paleontologists roughly calculated the length of the entire animal - it ranged from 13.5 to 17.5 meters.

Many of the leviathan's teeth are 15-23 cm in size!

Despite the formidable name, the leviathan was not a giant among whales, even the modern sperm whale, whose adult males are 16-20 meters long, was not inferior to its extinct relative in size. But in terms of the length of the teeth, the leviathan has no equal among whales, and maybe among animals in general - its teeth have a diameter at the base of 12 centimeters and a length of 36 centimeters. The modern sperm whale has noticeably smaller teeth and grows only on the lower jaw; the upper jaw also has teeth, but they are very small. Even the Mesozoic pliosaurs had smaller teeth.

The skull of a leviathan is a cross between the skulls of a sperm whale and a killer whale (Orcinus orca). Killer whales are large, up to 10 meters long, predatory dolphins; they cannot be close relatives of the leviathan, the similarity with them, apparently, is caused by a similar lifestyle.

Modern sperm whales feed mainly on squid and fish, while killer whales feed on other aquatic mammals, mainly pinnipeds. Leviathan whales, like killer whales, were hunters of relatively large prey. According to one of the paleontologists who studied Leviathan melvillei, Dr. Christian de Muizon from the Natural History Museum in Paris, leviathans with giant teeth became victims of leviathanes with giant teeth, because for a monster with a three-meter skull and with 36-centimeter teeth it was not a problem to overcome a ten-meter whale.

Still, the remains of the leviathan's skull are incomplete and badly destroyed.

The newly discovered marine predator surpassed in body and teeth size even the most ferocious representative of predatory fish, the famous Carcharocles megalodon - a giant extinct shark, which even 1.5 million years ago terrified the inhabitants of the seas.

Jaw size - about 3 meters

Despite the fact that the remains of Megalodon and Leviathan were found in the same geological formation, scientists believe that they were unlikely to attack each other - for both species, fighting for prey was deadly. Most likely, they could hunt each other's cubs.

Of the modern predators, only sperm whales, reaching 20 meters in length, can compare in size with the leviathan, but these titans of the seas and oceans are armed with relatively small teeth, which, moreover, grow only on the lower jaw and are used to hunt mollusks and, less often, fish.

After examining the remains of an ancient whale, scientists have put forward a new explanation for the mysterious spermaceti organ of sperm whales - a giant bubble of viscous fluid called spermacet, located in the whale's head. In earlier times, this liquid was the main trophy of whalers.

The appearance of the leviathan strongly resembles the appearance of the extinct giant pliosaurs of the Mesozoic.

Until now, it was believed that the spermaceti organ helps whales to dive to great depths. In the case of the leviathan, this was not necessary, since the main prey of this monster - small baleen whales - lived near the surface. According to Lambert and Bianucci, the spermaceti organ was used by the leviathan as a battering ram, with which it was possible to stun the victim or challenge the right to a female in a competition with a relative.

The extinct genus of ancient megalodon giant sharks is considered the former "king of the seas", but even these predators had their enemies. This enemy was the Miocene sperm whale Leviathan Melville, which also has not survived to this day. The confrontation of these sea giants will be discussed further.

The length of the megalodon was approximately from 16 to 20 meters, it weighed up to 40 tons, and its teeth were 18-19 cm, in five rows, and their number was 276. The bite force of a mega shark is simply stunning - more than 108,514 newtons, which is most of all, among the animals that exist in our time. This shark was at the top of the food chain and could eat large cetaceans or other large prey such as Leedsichtis. Her hunting tactics were identical to the great white shark. However, when the oceans got colder, the megalodon's diet was forced to float into warmer waters, which led to the extinction of these monsters. Also, their extinction was facilitated by ancient toothy whales, sperm whales or killer whales, which devoured juveniles of megalodon, or even adults. One of the mega shark's worst enemies was Melville's giant sperm whale Leviathan, named after the writer Herman Melville, best known for his novel Moby Dick.

Melville's Leviathan (Livyatan melvillei) - a giant sperm whale, 17.5 - 25 meters long, weighing 90 - 120 tons, was also at the top of the food chain. He owns the largest teeth known to science, 12 cm wide and 36 in length. Moreover, they grew on the upper jaw, unlike modern sperm whales. The jaw of this whale was 3 meters, and was intended for biting through large whales. Also, these sperm whales were found in flocks, and could well drive megalodons away from young animals.

As you can see, the giant sperm whale could fight the megalodon and even win over the "king of the underwater world." They could well eat young sharks, as well as adults. And in general, even cunning killer whales could fill up a megalodon in a group of 2-3.

Indeed, killer whales were much smarter than the megalodon, they could change tactics, enter and attack from any direction, report their actions and crush the "king of the seas".
Today, killer whales are still taller than these predators, they easily kill the largest white sharks or simply drive them away from prey.

On the left is a great white shark tooth, on the right is a megalodon tooth

The extinct genus of ancient megalodon giant sharks is considered the former "king of the seas", but even these predators had their enemies. This enemy was the Miocene sperm whale Leviathan Melville, which also has not survived to this day. The confrontation of these sea giants will be discussed further.

The length of the megalodon was approximately from 16 to 20 meters, it weighed up to 40 tons, and its teeth were 18-19 cm, in five rows, and their number was 276. The bite force of a mega shark is simply stunning - more than 108,514 newtons, which is most of all, among the animals that exist in our time. This shark was at the top of the food chain and could eat large cetaceans or other large prey such as Leedsichtis. Her hunting tactics were identical to the great white shark. However, when the oceans got colder, the megalodon's diet was forced to swim into warmer waters, which led to the extinction of these monsters. Also, their extinction was facilitated by ancient toothy whales, sperm whales or killer whales, which devoured juveniles of the megalodon, or even adults. One of the mega shark's worst enemies was Melville's giant sperm whale Leviathan, named after the writer Herman Melville, best known for his novel Moby Dick.

Melville's Leviathan (Livyatan melvillei) - a giant sperm whale, 17.5 - 25 meters long, weighing 90 - 120 tons, was also at the top of the food chain. He owns the largest teeth known to science, 12 cm wide and 36 in length. Moreover, they grew on the upper jaw, unlike modern sperm whales. The jaw of this whale was 3 meters, and was intended for biting through large whales. Also, these sperm whales were found in flocks, and could well drive megalodons away from young animals.

As you can see, the giant sperm whale could fight the megalodon and even win over the "king of the underwater world." They could well eat young sharks, as well as adults. And in general, even cunning killer whales could fill up a megalodon in a group of 2-3.

Indeed, killer whales were much smarter than the megalodon, they could change tactics, enter and attack from any direction, report their actions and crush the "king of the seas".
Today, killer whales are still taller than these predators, they easily kill the largest white sharks or simply drive them away from prey.