The Megalodon Essay Research Paper The MegalodonKingdomanimaliaPhylumchordataSubphylumvertebrataClassChondrichthyesSubclassElas

The Megalodon Essay, Research Paper

The Megalodon

Kingdom-animalia

Phylum-chordata

Subphylum-vertebrata

Class-Chondrichthyes

Subclass-Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays)

Order-Lamniformes

Family-Lamnidae

Genus-Carcharodon

Species-megalodon

Intro.

I was in front of the TV watching shark week on the discovery channel

when they started to talk about this shark that was three times bigger then a great

white shark and ate whales for food. I sat there for an hour intrigued by the

thought of one of those living today. So when you gave out the reports I knew

right away what I wanted to do it on the Megalodon.

Megalodon

Sharks have been around for along time. They were here before the

dinosaurs 350 million years ago. About 5 million years ago the ocean was ruled by

a shark speculated to be the size of a bus. Its not known how big it was or what it

looked like because sharks bones are made of cartilage and the only things that

remain are their huge teeth. These teeth are as big as six inches long and

weight up to twelve ounces. The teeth look like a great whites but four times

bigger. Scientist once believed that they were 120ft in length because of the size

of their teeth. Recently, it has been shrunk to 50 to 60 feet. There is a lot of these

teeth which Probably means they had rows of teeth like the great whites five rows

of them. Because there is so few fossils there is still a lot of mystery to the

megaladon.

The Megladon shark was first discovered by a French paleontologist Louis

Agassiz in 1835. It is not known where the tooth was found. Now days most of

the megalodon teeth are found on the East Coast in Maryland and North and South

Carolina and in Florida. Lots of people also collect their teeth and sell

them. A 5-inch tooth in good condition goes for about $250.

There are many speculations about the megalodon shark what they

looked like and what they ate. It will never be known for sure but many experts

think that they had a lot in common with the great white because their teeth are

so similar. Experts think that the megalodon was also a killer like the great

white but ate not just seals, but also ate whales. Sharks need to eat two

percent of their body weight a day, so they didn t have to eat huge amounts of

food. There has been evidence in the bones of whales showing teeth marks shaped

like megalodon s tooth. Also many paleontologist argue over many of these

speculations. Each one has a different theory how they lived.

At the Smithsonian museum is the biggest reconstructed megalodon jaw

in the world. The jaw is seven feet tall and four feet wide. It isn t know for sure if

the jaw looked like this for sure but it the best they can guess.

How They Died

It is not certain how all of the megalodon s died but there is a couple

theories . One is that the food supply ran out. The most repeated theory is that

the megalodon s food was very scarce and that there were so few of them because

they were on top of the food chain and died off. The great whites survived during

the extinction of the megalodon, and they lived in the same area as megalodons.

They think the smaller size of the great white made it easier for them to

Survive, having to eat less. Another theory is that the temperature of the water

changed and the whales migrated away leaving megalodons without there main

food supply. Some scientist think that the megalodon changed into the the great

whites of today. But recently there has been findings disagreeing with these

scientist

The Fear

With the movie Jaws and all the talk about shark attacks sharks have gotten

a bad wrap. The thought of a megalodon in the water would sure keep me out of

the ocean. The thought of being eaten in one gulp is scary. Also you would have

to have a pretty big boat to feel safe in the water. If a megalodon can eat a whale

it wouldn t be to hard for it to capsize a 30ft boat. So I m quite glad that the

megalodon shark isn t around any more because the ocean wouldn t be as fun as it

is now.