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What Megalodon Really Ate to Meet Its 100,000-Calorie Daily Requirement, According to a New Study | News Channel 3-12
- A recent study published Monday in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reveals that megalodon, the prehistoric apex predator that disappeared around 3.6 million years ago, had a more varied diet than previously thought and did not solely prey on large marine mammals.
- Researchers conducted geochemical analyses on megalodon's fossilized teeth, revealing regional differences in its feeding habits and suggesting it was an opportunistic feeder rather than an exclusive whale hunter.
- Lead author Jeremy McCormack said megalodon pursued whatever prey was locally available, feeding across the food web from large marine mammals to smaller animals and other top predators to meet its 100,000-calorie daily requirement.
- Megalodon's teeth could reach up to 7 inches long, about the size of a human hand, and the study's findings challenge the idea that it was the sole king of ancient seas, showing it shared the top food chain spot with other opportunistic supercarnivores.
- The study implies that megalodon's broad diet and the rise of the more agile great white shark, which shifts diet from fish to marine mammals, may have contributed to megalodon's extinction and reshaped views of ancient marine ecosystems.
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By Jacopo Prisco, CNN What scientists thought about the voracious eating habits of the colossal megalodon may be up for revision. According to a new study, the prehistoric predator that went extinct about 3.6 million years ago didn't just hunt large marine mammals like whales, as researchers thought. Minerals found in fossilized teeth reveal that the megalodon may have been an opportunist, feeding on other species to meet its remarkable daily fo…
·Idaho Falls, United States
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New research reveals that the giant shark, which swam in the oceans 23 million years ago, was not picky - it preyed on a huge variety of marine creatures
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