The Megalodon Was Even Bigger Than We Thought

The long-extinct megalodon shark has always been a topic of debate among ocean life enthusiasts. Considered one of the largest predators to ever roam the planet, the megalodon’s actual size has never been accurately determined. 

A recent study, though, may present the best guess yet as to the scale of this titanic shark. According to Science Alert, an international team determined the creature was likely even larger than we thought. Megalodons lived 23 million to 3.6 million years ago, making it impossible to actually measure one. Using a catalog of more than 165 living and extinct sharks, however, scientists calculated its approximate size.

They found that megalodons may have stretched as long as 24.3 meters (79.7 feet), about the size of two school buses end-to-end. Previous theories suggested the predators were only 15 to 18 meters (or 50 to 60 feet).

By honing in on the head and tail, researchers found that those two parts equate to about 16.6 to 32.6 percent of the animal’s total size. They then compared that with the makeup of other sharks and prior fossil discoveries to get to the new size estimate. 

The size of extinct sharks, and the megalodon in particular, are so difficult to pin down because their skeletons are made of soft cartilage rather than bone, which is unlikely to fossilize. Without fossils, it’s much harder to determine their exact size and shape.

The study also concluded that the mammoth shark was slimmer than previously thought. It’s now said to be more like an “enormous lemon shark” and not the massive great white as previously believed. The lemon shark has a more “slender, elongated body,” as opposed to the great white’s bulk.

Now that we have our best estimate for the size and shape of the megalodon shark, how much longer do we have to wait before someone creates a simulation of what it would have been like to be eaten by a shark in prehistoric days? Talk about terrifying!