Megalodons were wiped out when killer whales invaded: Competition for food drove 60ft sharks [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | March 31, 2016 | Abigail Beall

[C19fan]

Jaws may have terrified you at the cinema, but the iconic great white would have been dwarfed by Carcharocles megalodon, the largest shark in the history of the planet. The giant creatures lived between 23 million and 2.6 million years ago and scientists are divided over how and why the species perished. Now, details of fossils from the huge shark that lived alongside the dinosaurs have been studied for the first time in an attempt to solve this mystery.

[C19fan]

Now, details of fossils from the huge shark that lived alongside the dinosaus DOH! Off my 40 MM years. Looks like a potential case of brains over braun.

[DannyTN]

I hate when the killer whales invade.

[lurk]

Sounds like Orcas are an invasive, destructive species. Like the islam of the seas.

[usconservative]

I hate when the killer whales invade.

Worse than a Sharknado!!

[Resolute Conservative]

Not huge killer manatees?

[Opinionated Blowhard]

In the past, climate changes have generally been blamed for its disappearance. But now researchers from the University of Zurich have discovered the giant shark became extinct because the diversity of its prey decreased and new predators appeared as competitors.

Hmmm. So Climate Change isn't the cause of every single problem on the planet.

[GraceG]

Killer Whales are basically “pack animals” where sharks are less so.

Killer whales communicate and hunt together to take down big prey.

Sharks only take down prey that is usually smaller than themselves, which is why large whales have nothing to fear from sharks.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Look how big the teeth are......

[JoeProBono]

[dfwgator]

“It’s the Circle of Life.”

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

THIS IS EPIC!

[showme_the_Glory]

When I was a kid I saw a killer whale come into Monterey Bay by Santa Cruz and kill a young sperm whale. It was pretty amazing to see it “play” with it like a cat with a mouse.

[fhayek]

You know, a twenty million year run for a species is not too shabby. Carcharocles megalodon got nothing to be ashamed about.

[buffaloguy]

hard to imagine what the Megalodon fed on. Must have been some big critters at the time.

[XRdsRev]

About 25 years ago I had the chance to collect Megladon teeth and Miocene whale bones in Virginia. The biggest tooth I found was about 5”. Not huge but still very cool.

[blueunicorn6]

I was at an aquarium in Canada.

I went to the killer whale exhibit.

They had plexiglass around the top of the tank and I was walking beside the plexiglass.

I realized that there was a Killer Whale shadowing me inside the tank.

I also realized I was the only person at the exhibit.

The Killer Whale just floated there with her eye on me.

I saw how big she was.

She was big enough to come over the plexiglass, grab me, and pull me back into the tank to munch on.

I backed up the stairs to the top of the stands and walked across to an exit.

Those babies are huge.

[captain_dave]

Paleontology is not science - it's story telling. There is no way we can know why a species died off millions of years ago, or even hundreds of years ago. The only thing for certain these people can tell you is that fossils of a creature of a size and shape where found in a certain rock layer assumed to be of a certain age. The geological age is an assumption based on the uniformitarian theory of geology, since there's no "carbon 14" dating system for inorganic material.

[cld51860]

Glad they’re dead.

[PIF]

[subterfuge]

Sheldon? Is that you?