The MEGASHARK died out because it was a picky eater: Researchers say megalodon was unable to change its diet after its favourite whales died out
- Megalodon went extinct some 2.6 million years ago
- Experts found this was because of its limited food preference
- Creature fed on dwarf whales, which were killed off by climate change
- Megalodon did not adapt nor change its diet - which led to its demise
After analyzing 7-million-year-old fossilized teeth, researchers have found that megalodon was a picky eater.
Paleontologists discovered that this massive creature preferred to eat only dwarf whales - and say this limited diet may have led to its demise some 2.6 million years ago.
The team suggests a cooling climate killed off megalodon's food supply and it was unable to choose another prey to feed on.
After analyzing 7-million-year-old fossilized teeth, researcher have discovered the megalodon was a picky eater - and this limited diet led to its demise. Paleontologists found megalodon disappeared shortly after its favorite prey, dwarf whales, died off some 2.6 million years ago
Megalodon lived between 23 million and 2.6 million years ago and scientists have been baffled to why these creatures just disappeared from the planet.
'The disappearance of the last giant-toothed shark could have been triggered by the decline and fall of several dynasties of small to medium-sized baleen whales in favor of modern, gigantic baleen whales,' team leader Alberto Collareta from the University of Pisa, Italy, told Richard Gray with New Scientist.
The massive predator grew up to an incredible 59 feet (18m) long, and used its giant teeth, that could grow up to 7.1 inches (18 cm), to feed on smaller marine mammals.
Collareta and his colleagues analyzed scrape marks and wounds left behind on a 7-million-year-old fossilized teeth, which revealed a diet consisting of now-extinct dwarf sharks and sometimes seals.
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These fossils were discovered in the Pisco fossil beds in Aguada de Lomas, Peru.
Researchers found some of the markings belonged to the extinct species of baleen whale called Piscobalaena nana and an early type of seal called Piscophoca pacifica.
Alberto Collareta from the University of Pisa and his colleagues analyzed scrape marks and wounds left behind on a 7-million-year-old fossilized teeth that revealed a diet consisting of now-extinct dwarf sharks and seals (Pictured is a separate megalodon tooth found in the US)
THE BIGGEST SHARK EVER
Leptostyrax macrorhiza may have been a large shark, but it would have been dwarfed by megalodon, meaning big-tooth, which lived between 15.9 and 2.6 million years ago.
C. megalodon is considered to be one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history and fossil remains suggest it grew to 59 ft (18 metres) long.
Megalodon ruled the temperate and warm waters of all the oceans between 25mand 1.5m years ago The predator grew up to an incredible 59 feet (18m) long, and used its giant teeth, that could grow up to 7.1 in (18 cm), to feed on smaller marine mammals.
It's thought the monster looked like a stockier version of today's much feared great white shark and weighed up to 100 tons.
Megalodon is known from fossilized vertebrae and teeth, which are triangular and measure almost eight inches (20cm) in diagonal length.
Famed fossil hunter Vito 'Megalodon' Bertucci took almost 20 years to reconstruct a megalodon's jaw - largest ever assembled - which measures 11 ft across and is almost 9 nine ft tall.
The Megalodon's colossal mouth would have produced a but force of 10.8 to 18.2 tons.
The ancient shark has been described as a super predator, because it could swim at high speeds and kill a wide variety of prey such as sea turtles and whales, quickly in its strong jaws.
The subject of C. megalodon extinction remains under investigation, as no-one is sure how such a powerful predator died out.
Both of these ancient animals grew around 16 feet (5 meters) in length, which is less than a third the size of megalodon.
And the team believes megalodon's food supply disappeared as a result of climate change.
Millions of years ago, a cooling of the Earth caused seal levels to fall, as ice formed in the poles.
This change forced dwarf whales into the open-ocean – an environment not fit for these animals.
With a 9.8-foot jaw, megalodon could crush pretty much anything in its path. But when its food supply ran out, the creature was unable to adapt and change its diet, which led to its extinction some 2.6 million years ago (Picture is a set of a megalodon's jaws on display in Las Vegas)
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CARCHAROCLES MEGALODON
Early Miocene - between 23 and approximately 16 million years ago.
The sharks were mainly found in the Northern Hemisphere in the warm waters off the coast of America, around Europe and in the Indian Ocean.
Middle Miocene - between 16 and 11 million years ago.
Abundance of the species peaked.
Late Miocene - between 11 and 5 million years ago.
The species had the largest geographical coverage.
Pliocene - between 5 and 2.6 million years ago.
The continuous decline of the species with the gradual emergence of a glacial period.
Millions of years ago, a cooling of the Earth caused seal levels to fall, as ice formed in the poles. This change forced dwarf whales, the megalodon's favorite dish into the open-ocean, which ended up killing them
'We were not able to ascertain any direct link between the extinction of C. megalodon and the global fluctuations in temperatures during this time,' said lead author of the study, Ms Pimiento.
'Changing climatic conditions do not appear to have had any influence on the population density and range of the giant sharks.'
Numbers of the shark did not decline in colder periods, nor did they increase significantly in rising water temperatures.
Instead, the evolutionary narrative of other species seems to have had an effect on the development of the monster sharks.
When the range the Megalodon occupied shrank, numerous smaller marine mammal species disappeared.
Another factor was the appearance of new predators such as the ancestors of the killer whale and the great white shark.
The results suggest that these species could have competed for the increasingly scarce food sources.
On the other hand, the shift was ideal for larger whales to thrive, but were much to massive for megalodon to conquer.
However, Dana Ehret, curator of paleontology at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, believes that the larger whales may have been a target for megalodon from time to time.
'I've seen a specimen from Virginia yet to be published of a fairly large baleen whale found with a megalodon tooth lying on top of an indentation in the bone,' he told New Scientist.
But Ehret notes that the whale could have been dead at the time of the attack, making it easier for megalodon to make it a meal.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4117986/The-MEGASHARK-died-picky-eater-Researchers-say-megalodon-unable-change-diet-favourite-whales-died-out.html#ixzz4ViJLtcex
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