{"id":69623,"date":"2020-11-28T01:48:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T01:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=69623"},"modified":"2020-11-28T01:48:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T01:48:49","slug":"megalodon-fossils-discovered-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=69623","title":{"rendered":"Megalodon fossils discovered all over the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Megalodons, the apex predator of the seas, may have gone extinct more than 3.5 million years ago, but experts may have discovered nurseries of the massive shark all around the world, according to a new study.<\/p>\n

The research,\u00a0published in Biology Letters, notes that nurseries of the megalodon have been found in northeastern Spain, with fossils of adult and younger megalodons discovered. In all, five potential nurseries may have been found, including in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific basins, with fossils ranging from 16 million to 3 million years ago.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur analyses support the presence of five potential nurseries ranging from the Langhian (middle Miocene) to the Zanclean (Pliocene), with higher densities of individuals with estimated body lengths within the typical range of neonates and young juveniles,\u201d the researchers wrote in the study\u2019s abstract. \u201cThese results reveal, for the first time, that nursery areas were commonly used by O. megalodon over large temporal and spatial scales, reducing early mortality and playing a key role in maintaining viable adult populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experts looked at 25 megalodon teeth in the Revert\u00e9 and Vidal regions in Tarragona, Spain, using crown height to estimate size and age. The experts determined the younger sharks were roughly one month old and were 13 feet in length, while the older juvenile sharks were approximately 36 feet in length.<\/p>\n\n

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These three teeth depict more than 50 million years of megatooth shark evolution. Megalodon\u2019s earliest ancestor, Otodus obliquus, from left, had smooth-edged teeth with a thick root and lateral cusplets, two \u201cmini-teeth\u201d flanking the main tooth.Kristen Grace\/Florida Museum<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In September, a separate group of\u00a0researchers determined\u00a0the true size of an adult megalodon\u2019s body, including its huge fins, based on fossils. A 52.5-foot-long megalodon likely had a head 15.3 feet long, a dorsal fin approximately 5.3 feet tall and a tail around 12.6 feet high, the scientists found.<\/p>\n

The findings of the new study suggest that nurseries were prevalent for megalodons, feeding and protecting young members of the species, just as they are for modern sharks. However, the prevalence of nurseries may have resulted in the megalodon\u2019s downfall, the scientists added.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the presumed reliance of O. megalodon on the presence of suitable nursery grounds might have also been determinant in the demise of this iconic top predatory shark,\u201d the study\u2019s authors explained in the abstract.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n