Megalodon Tooth ID#66

Common Name: Megalodon

Scientific Name: Otodus megalodon

Epoch:Miocene, Pliocene

Fossil Type: Tooth

Fossil Size: 1.89 Inches 4.8 cm

Location Found: Florida

Info about Otodus.

    Otodus is the genus famously known as the mega-toothed sharks. The genus at least dates back to the early paleocene (66mya). The most famous of the species within this group is O. Megalodon. Other famous species within the group include O. auriculatus, O. angustiden, O. chubustenis, O. obliquus. O. auriculatus reached the massive size of 9.5 meters(31ft). Its descendant O.angustiden reached even greater sizes of 11-12m (36-39ft). And its descendant O. chubustenis reached an even greater length of 13.5 (44ft). New evidence supports the megalodon was bigger than previously thought. New estimates put the shark at up to approximately 45m (148ft), though the accepted new estimation puts it at 24m (78.7ft) and weighing 94 tonnes (which is still significantly greater than the previously thought 15m-20m (49ft-65ft). All members of this genus would have primarily preyed on large prey such as whales, dugongs, seals, dolphins, giant fish, & turtles.

References:

Ebersole, J. A., & Ehret, D. J. (2018, January 8). A new species of cretalamna sensu stricto (lamniformes, Otodontidae) from the late cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) of Alabama, USA. PeerJ. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5764036/

Kast, E. R., Griffiths, M. L., Kim, S. L., Rao, Z. C., Shimada, K., Becker, M. A., Maisch, H. M., Eagle, R. A., Clarke, C. A., Neumann, A. N., Karnes, M. E., Lüdecke, T., Leichliter, J. N., Martínez-García, A., Akhtar, A. A., Wang, X. T., Haug, G. H., & Sigman, D. M. (2022, June 24). Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions. Science advances. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9217088/

Megalodon larger than previously thought. new research estimates up to 24 metres. Western Australian Museum. (n.d.). https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/learn/news-stories/megalodon-larger-previously-thought-new-research-estimates-24-metres

Megalodon: The truth about the largest shark that ever lived. Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/megalodon--the-truth-about-the-largest-shark-that-ever-lived.html

Renz, Mark (2002). Megalodon: Hunting the Hunter. PaleoPress. pp. 26–30. ISBN 0-9719477-0-8

School lesson gone wrong leads to new, bigger megalodon size estimate. Research News. (2023, March 1). https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/school-lesson-leads-to-bigger-megalodon-size/