On May 31st, researchers shared their findings about great whites and megalodons in Nature Communications, which is a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal. The team was led by Jeremy McCormack who’s one of many geoscientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, located in Leipzig, Germany.
Megalodon, meaning “big tooth”, is an extinct species of sharks that lived around 2.3 to 3.6 million years ago.
Megalodons were once one of the largest carnivores to ever live. Some grew to at least 14 meters (46 feet) long. This giant creature began menacing the oceans around 2.3 million years ago. The source of their extinction hasn’t been clear to scientists. However, this changed when researchers began to take a closer look at great white sharks.
New analyses of shark teeth give clues that these two marine animals hunted the same prey, and this appears that the competition may have helped push megalodons toward extinction.
In order to figure out if the two sharks dined on similar food, the researchers looked in the Zinc in their teeth. Zinc has two main forms, or isotopes. One being zinc-66, and the other being zinc-64. Plants and plate eaters have a lot of zinc-66, as compared with zinc-64. The higher up the food web, animals have relatively more zinc-64. In both animals’ teeth enamel, this isotope was presented.
Their findings reveal that both creatures devoured marine mammals, such as whales and seals.
However, just because they ate similar prey doesn’t prove these sharks fought over food, researchers say. There are many other possible reasons for megalodons’ extinction, which include changes to the ocean currents over time and a significant drop in the population of marine mammals. So, even if great whites didn’t benefit megalodons, they are likely not the sole reason behind their disappearance or extinction either. The journey to answer this question of extinction continues!
Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659262483618x612677990147609300/Great%20white%20sharks%20may%20be%20partly%20to%20blame%20for%20the%20end%20of%20megalodons%20_%20Science%20News%20Explores.pdf
Megalodon, meaning “big tooth”, is an extinct species of sharks that lived around 2.3 to 3.6 million years ago.
Megalodons were once one of the largest carnivores to ever live. Some grew to at least 14 meters (46 feet) long. This giant creature began menacing the oceans around 2.3 million years ago. The source of their extinction hasn’t been clear to scientists. However, this changed when researchers began to take a closer look at great white sharks.
New analyses of shark teeth give clues that these two marine animals hunted the same prey, and this appears that the competition may have helped push megalodons toward extinction.
In order to figure out if the two sharks dined on similar food, the researchers looked in the Zinc in their teeth. Zinc has two main forms, or isotopes. One being zinc-66, and the other being zinc-64. Plants and plate eaters have a lot of zinc-66, as compared with zinc-64. The higher up the food web, animals have relatively more zinc-64. In both animals’ teeth enamel, this isotope was presented.
Their findings reveal that both creatures devoured marine mammals, such as whales and seals.
However, just because they ate similar prey doesn’t prove these sharks fought over food, researchers say. There are many other possible reasons for megalodons’ extinction, which include changes to the ocean currents over time and a significant drop in the population of marine mammals. So, even if great whites didn’t benefit megalodons, they are likely not the sole reason behind their disappearance or extinction either. The journey to answer this question of extinction continues!
Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659262483618x612677990147609300/Great%20white%20sharks%20may%20be%20partly%20to%20blame%20for%20the%20end%20of%20megalodons%20_%20Science%20News%20Explores.pdf
