Did the Megalodon Turn Into the Great White?

A huge whale-eating shark dominated the oceans millions of years ago. Its evolution has been the topic of heated debate among scientists for over 150 years. Until recently, a lot of paleontologists were sure that one of the most ferocious marine predators of our time, the great white shark, descended from the mighty megalodon. Well, recent findings are bringing this long-held belief into question.

TIMESTAMPS:
What Niels Stensen’s discovery provided 1:25
Difficulties of reconstructing prehistoric sharks 2:51
What the size of the megalodon was 3:40
What the megalodon ate 4:28
Evolutionary chain of prehistoric sharks 5:11
What the megalodon’s was bite force 6:01
When the megalodon went extinct 7:21
Are great whites descendants of the megalodon? 7:32

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SUMMARY:
– Stensen’s discovery provided convincing evidence that glossopetrae were, in fact, fossilized shark teeth! And since some of these “rocks” were about 7 inches long, this was a somewhat unsettling discovery. After all, they were much bigger than any great white’s teeth, which were rarely more than 2½ inches long.
– The problem was in difficulties that researchers had every time they tried to reconstruct prehistoric sharks. The thing is that a shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage, which tends to decompose much faster than bone.
– As for the megalodon, it was the largest predator that’s ever lived on this planet. It could get up to 60 feet long, which is about the size of a semi. It could weigh over 70 tons. To put that into perspective, that’s the combined weight of about 10 elephants.
– Researchers estimate that a full-grown megalodon probably consumed about a ton of food every day, and it had a particular taste for whales.
– The megalodon had approximately 280 of these ginormous teeth arranged in 5 rows. Lost teeth were typically replaced within 2 days max.
– Fossilized megalodon teeth have been discovered in different regions of the world, from North and South America all the way to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
– In November 2012, scientists discovered new shark fossils in South America. These remains included a complete jaw with teeth and several vertebrae. The teeth of this new shark were saw-like, but they weren’t as sharp as those of the great white or megalodon.
– The great white has much sharper cutting tools than the prehistoric shark. Both of these sharks’ teeth are sort of oval-shaped.
– While the Meg preferred warm regions, great whites lived in the cool waters of the Northern Atlantic.

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