New research suggests that the megalodon (Otodus megalodon), a huge extinct shark that stalked the oceans with its enormous teeth up to 18 centimeters about 3.6 million years ago, would have been warm-blooded, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. ).
It is its enormous teeth, with which it could tear any prey in the deep sea, and the subsequent analysis of the mineral composition of the enameled tissue, which have revealed new information to better understand how this predator lived and how it became extinct.
A predator present in almost the entire world
The researchers estimate that the megalodon, which could reach 20 meters in length and used to hunt marine mammals such as whales, had an average body temperature of about 27 degrees Celsius, and could maintain it about 7 degrees Celsius above that of seawater.
This may have made the megalodon a more dynamic predator, a strong swimmer, able to digest food energy-efficiently and, most importantly, to tolerate colder waters, allowing it to expand its range to nearly everyone.
Comparison with current species
Most fish are cold-blooded (ectothermic) and their body temperature matches that of the water. But a few are warm-blooded (endothermic) and generate their own body heat. Some examples of these are sharks, including the largest today, the white shark.
“The only comparable species alive today, both in terms of diet and body temperature, are the great white shark and, to a lesser extent, the mako. However, as shown in our study, the megalodon was slightly warmer than these two modern predators, which makes it unique,” said lead author Michael Griffiths, a geochemist and paleoclimatologist, from William Paterson University of New Jersey.
His hot blood would have been responsible for his extinction
The Megalodon, perhaps the largest shark of all time, appeared about 23 million years ago and disappeared about 3.6 million years ago amid a drop in ocean temperature and sea level.
The warm blood might have been useful to the megalodon in colder waters. However, “the fact that the species became extinct suggests the probable vulnerability – or the cost – of being warm-blooded, since warm-blooded people require a constant intake of food to maintain a high metabolism,” said the paleobiologist and Study co-author Kenshu Shimada, of Chicago’s DePaul University.
“It is highly possible that a change in the marine ecosystem occurred due to climatic cooling that lowered sea levels, altering the habitats and populations of the types of food that megalodon depended on, such as marine mammals, possibly they would become scarce, causing the extinction of the megalodon,” added Shimada.
Influence of cinema and new things to discover
Scientists already suspected that the megalodon was warm-blooded, but the new study provides the first empirical proof. The researchers analyzed the geochemical characteristics of fossil megalodon teeth to determine the temperature at which minerals in enamel-like tissue formed, an indicator of body temperature.
After being overshadowed for decades in popular culture by the great white shark, such as the 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” and its endless progeny, the megalodon is now in the spotlight thanks to the 2018 film “ The Meg” and its upcoming sequel “Meg 2: The Trench.”
“The megalodon is mainly represented only by teeth and a handful of vertebral specimens in the fossil record,” Shimada noted. “Contrary to the novels and movies that present the megalodon as a monstrous and large shark, the truth is that we still do not know exactly what it was like or how it lived. This is exactly why ‘megalodon science’ remains an exciting academic field,” she mused.
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