Giant Megalodon Sharks Went Extinct 2.6 Million Years Ago

This Megalodon Tooth is longer than 2 one dollar bills laid end-to-end.

Bruce Cockburn's "extinction song..."

"If A Tree Falls"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8CibAuvZM4

Lyrics: http://cockburnproject.net/songs&music/iatf.html

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Researchers have examined dozens of Megalodon shark fossils and have estimated that the huge sharks have gone extinct about 2.6 million years ago. Megalodon sharks were the largest sharks to live and were 60 feet long creatures.

Though researchers are uncertain about the reason behind the extinction, they at least have a more accurate estimate about the time of their extinction.

Researchers from the University of Zurich and University of Florida conducted this study with the aim of finding out how removal of predators affected the local environments. They analyzed Megalodon fossil records and found out that the extinction of Megalodon sharks led to the growth in size of whales which then became the biggest animals on earth.

The Megalodon Sharks first appeared nearly 28 million years ago and with 40-60 feet in length and 50-100 metric tons in weight, could swallow an adult human easily. It is believed that they preyed mostly on whales.

The researchers used available databases and a mathematical formula that was developed by Christopher S. Clements, co-author of the study. The formula has been of help in recent studies in calculating the extinction times of several species. The research has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The researchers used OLE or Optimal Linear Estimation to set an approximate extinction date for the Megalodon sharks. Then they studied the whale populations of those times. They found out that the size and number of whales grew after the removal of these sharks, which were their largest predators.

Lead researcher Catalina Pimiento from the Florida Museum of Natural History says that recent estimations made from this research point out that large-bodied, shallow water species of sharks at a greater risk among marine animals. This could possibly be due to climate change and warmer waters.