Post by tom on Mar 25, 2021 14:36:56 GMT -5
Megalodon extinction theory:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/megalodon--the-truth-about-the-largest-shark-that-ever-lived.html
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/megalodon--the-truth-about-the-largest-shark-that-ever-lived.html
Extinction of a mega shark
We know that megalodon had become extinct by the end of the Pliocene (2.6 million years ago), when the planet entered a phase of global cooling. Precisely when the last megalodon died is not known, but new evidence suggests that it was at least 3.6 million years ago. Scientists think that up to a third of all large marine animals, including 43% of turtles and 35% of sea birds, became extinct as temperatures cooled and the number of organisms at the base of the food chain plummeted, resulting in a knock-on effect to the predators at the top. The cooling of the planet may have contributed to the extinction of the megalodon in a number of ways. As the adult sharks were dependent on tropical waters, the drop in ocean temperatures likely resulted in a significant loss of habitat. It may also have resulted in the megalodon's prey either going extinct or adapting to the cooler waters and moving to where the sharks could not follow.
We know that megalodon had become extinct by the end of the Pliocene (2.6 million years ago), when the planet entered a phase of global cooling. Precisely when the last megalodon died is not known, but new evidence suggests that it was at least 3.6 million years ago. Scientists think that up to a third of all large marine animals, including 43% of turtles and 35% of sea birds, became extinct as temperatures cooled and the number of organisms at the base of the food chain plummeted, resulting in a knock-on effect to the predators at the top. The cooling of the planet may have contributed to the extinction of the megalodon in a number of ways. As the adult sharks were dependent on tropical waters, the drop in ocean temperatures likely resulted in a significant loss of habitat. It may also have resulted in the megalodon's prey either going extinct or adapting to the cooler waters and moving to where the sharks could not follow.
But could megalodon still exist?
No. It's definitely not alive in the deep oceans, despite what the Discovery Channel has said in the past,' notes Emma.
'If an animal as big as megalodon still lived in the oceans we would know about it.'
The sharks would leave telltale bite marks on other large marine animals, and their huge teeth would continue littering the ocean floors in their tens of thousands. Not to mention that as a warm-water species, megalodon would not be able to survive in the cold waters of the deep, where it would have a better chance of going unnoticed.
No. It's definitely not alive in the deep oceans, despite what the Discovery Channel has said in the past,' notes Emma.
'If an animal as big as megalodon still lived in the oceans we would know about it.'
The sharks would leave telltale bite marks on other large marine animals, and their huge teeth would continue littering the ocean floors in their tens of thousands. Not to mention that as a warm-water species, megalodon would not be able to survive in the cold waters of the deep, where it would have a better chance of going unnoticed.