Vicious battle to extinction - 22 August 2022

A new study has revealed that a vicious battle, over limited food sources, might have been the cause of the largest shark, the megalodon's, extinction.

The megalodon (otodus megalodon) was a megatooth shark. It roamed the oceans from about 22 million years ago until about three million years ago. Its name means "big tooth". Up to three times bigger than the great white shark, the megalodon could grow a massive 18 metres in length and weigh up to 60 tonnes.

The extinction of this underwater giant has been an enduring mystery. Many different factors have been proposed by experts, from habitat loss due to changes in sea level, to reduction of prey.

However, recent studies, carried out by a team of international researchers, looked at zinc isotopes found in the teeth of sharks, living and extinct. These zinc isotopes were used to investigate the diet of the megalodon. The chemical in the teeth of modern sharks and 13 megalodon teeth indicated that they both competed for whales, dolphins and porpoises as prey.

Scientists studied the fossilised teeth of this prehistoric giant. They concluded that the megalodon might have faced fierce competition over food from the ancestors of the great white shark. They concluded that battling for the limited whale stock and other prey may have been driving factors in the megalodon's extinction.

Prof Thomas Tütken, from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, where they carried out the research, commented. "This is a piece in the puzzle of evidence that there was competition between the modern great white and the megalodon on aquatic food resources in the oceans at the time when both were still alive."