Sharks Forever by Mark Leiren-Young

Author:Mark Leiren-Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459827585
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2022-08-18T16:53:11+00:00

A great white shark breaks the surface to reach for bait in South Africa.

Bernard DUPONT/Flickr.com/CC BY-SA 2.0

8

Megalodons and Ancient Sharks

“Man versus meg isn’t a fight, it’s a slaughter.”

—Jonas Taylor, from the science fiction movie The Meg

The jaws of a megalodon are estimated to have spanned 6.6 feet (2 meters) across.

Chip Clark, USNM PAL 537883, Smithsonian Institution Megalodons are mind-boggling. Today these ancient sharks are superstars. Movies have always loved big monsters like Godzilla and King Kong. How could screenwriters resist when scientists discovered there was once a shark who made great whites look like goldfish? If you like dinosaurs, how can you not love megalodons? Movies like The Meg imagine what it would be like if a megalodon showed up today looking for lunch. In this kind of movie, sharks don’t bite humans by accident.

Megalodon remains are found all over the world, including in North America, South America, Europe and Africa. These ocean giants could grow to about 60 feet (18 meters) in length. This is about twice the size of a whale shark. Scientists believe these giants were wiped out about 3.6 million years ago. So unless someone invents Jurassic Park technology, you’re never likely to meet a megalodon. To get a sense of just how long a megalodon is from tip to tail, picture an adult giraffe standing on the head of another adult giraffe, who’s balancing on the head of a third adult giraffe.

A megalodon and an orca.

Illustrated by Sie Douglas Fish

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