The true size of a gigantic prehistoric megalodon
shark that ruled the oceans millions of years
ago has been revealed for the first time -- and
it had teeth as big as hands, and a fin as
tall as a human adult.
Previously, scientists have only estimated
the size of a megalodon shark.
But a recent study from researchers at the
University of Bristol in southwestern England
and Swansea University in South Wales reveals
the gigantic prehistoric shark's real size
for the first time.
Researchers used mathematical methods and
comparisons with living relatives to find
the overall size of the megalodon, which lived
from about 23 million to 3 million years ago
but has attracted fame more recently in Hollywood
movies including The Meg.
Researchers said that the giant shark species
would have grown up to 18 meters in length
and weighed about 48 tons, which is larger
than any other shark known to have existed
and more than twice the size of a great white
shark.
With teeth as big as human hands, it would
have had a bite force of more than 10 tons,
dwarfing that of a great white shark's bite
force of two tons.
Its tail would have been as long as 3.85 meters
and its fin would have stood at 1.62 meters
in length -- the height of a human adult.
The team was able to estimate its size by
comparing its teeth with that of modern shark
species, which, they said, grow into adults
in proportion unlike humans who are born with
shorter limbs and a larger head.
The reconstruction of the size of Megalodon
body parts represents a fundamental step towards
a better understanding of the physiology of
this giant, and the intrinsic factors that
may have made it prone to extinction.
