Prehistoric Marine Predators

Ethan Lee and Brendan Sallee

The Megalodon was quite possibly the largest sea animal to ever exist. Weighing in at a massive 100 tons and the size of a greyhound bus, the megalodon had virtually no threats. In order for the monster to be able to support its giant body it had to consume between 1322 to 2645 pounds of food. The only animal at the time that could provide a sufficient amount of food was the whale. Megalodons were able to kill these animals with its bite force of 40,000 pounds. This bite force combined with its razor sharp teeth that could be up to 7 inches long. Scientist predict that it may have lived between 25 to 2 million years ago and disappeared off the fossil record 2 millions years ago. Many scientific theories as to why and how these animals disappeared off the earth, however the most commonly accepted theories is how the climate may have changed dramatically or how they could have starved to death due to how ¾ of the whale population had gone extinct.

Sources
Megalodon Giant Shark(full documentary)HD [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ss0QlEkLo

Swetik, B. (2014, August 13). Megalodon: The monster shark's dead. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from National Geographic website: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/13/megalodon-the-monster-sharks-dead/