The Incredible Bite Force of The Megalodon

1. The Incredible Bite Force of The Megalodon More than 20 million years ago, in the vast and shallow waters of the oceans lived a species of giant sharks. These sharks easily dwarf the modern day apex sea predator, the great white shark by a considerable margin. Popularly known as megalodons today, which mean ’big tooth’, these extinct giant sharks could grow to as long as 17.9 meters(58.7 feet) and weigh as much as 65 metric tonnes(65,000 Kg). They possibly could have been the largest fish to ever exist. Megalodons were the most dominant and fearsome predators when they swam in the shallow waters of the oceans until their extinction around 2.6 million years ago. From their fossil remains, scientists have been able to study and understand much of their physical features and how they interacted with the world around them. These fossil remains have been found in several places in shallow tropical and temperate waters along coastlines of all continents with the exception of Antarctica. As indicated by the size of their teeth (the biggest specimen ever found being 6.9 inches), Megalodons have one of the strongest, if not the most, bite force in the history of the animal kingdom. From the size of their body, the density of muscles around their jaw and the size of their teeth, scientists measure the bite force of megalodons to be around 40,000 psi. When compared to the bite force of other extant predators in the animal kingdom such a saltwater crocodile with a bite force of 4000psi, or a great white with roughly the same amount, the enormous strength of this gigantic shark can be comprehended. Even when compared with extinct species such as the T Rex with a bite force of 10,000 psi and Deinosuchus with 20,000psi, no other species in the history of the animal kingdom comes close to the power of a megalodon. Based on specimens found and 3D reconstruction, the jaw Megalodons are measured to be as big as 9 feet tall and 111 feet wide, lined with a set of 276 teeth some of which could be as big as 6 to 7inches. They used their powerful jaws to hunt and kill large fish, sea turtles, dolphins and other sharks. A common food source of Megalodon was cetaceans which includes all families of whales, dolphins and porpoises. With their immense size and weight, they needed to consume around 2500 pounds of food everyday. Today, the teeth of the megalodon can be found in the coastlines of seas all over the world and are highly treasured by people. On beaches across the Southeast coastal region, when a man finds a megalodon tooth, it’s one of multiple instances where a fossilized tooth specimen of the once gigantic shark is picked up.

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