Monster Megalodon sharks grew 80 feet with sleek bodies built for speed to rule seas

Interesting Engineering ^ | March 10, 2025 | Mrigakshi Dixit

[Red Badger]

PinGGG!......................Who says they are extinct?.................

[Olog-hai]

In the press release, Professor Shimada acknowledges that the study’s preliminary conclusions are based on solid data. He hopes a complete skeleton will eventually be found to validate their findings …

Good luck with that, since shark skeletons are made of cartilage and not bone.

[BipolarBob]

I saw a documentary that showed them below a thermocline in the ocean.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4779682/

[GingisK]

...built for speed to rule seas...

The British Navy will be so displeased.

That critter is a strapping big fish. It would sooooo pleased not to meet one.

[ClearCase_guy]

experts from around the world analyzed a nearly complete vertebral column of a megalodon found in Belgium.

Based on careful analysis of that vertebral column, they determined that the newborns were 13 feet long. Because science.

[crz]

Eff that. I aint going in the ocean water no mo.

Been reports of very large white shark type critters.

[Red Badger]

It would not surprise me that one or more were still alive.

I found a meg tooth once about 45 years ago at Camp LeJeune, NC, the size of the palm of your hand. Forget whatever happened to it over the years.

But it didn’t look millions of years old.......................

[Larry Lucido]

Why didn’t they eat prehistoric lawyers?

Professional courtesy.

[MtnClimber]

I have two megalodon teeth. They are both between 5 and 6 inches long.

[z3n]

MAGAloDON was built to rule the swamp

[Rio]

Gonna need a MUCH bigger boat!

[Red Badger]

Are they black?.......................

[marktwain]

A 24.3-meter individual would have weighed around 94 tons with cruising speed at 2.1-3.5 km/h (1.3–2.2 miles/h /h)

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Those speeds are off by at least 10x.

I wonder how they came up with them.

[MtnClimber]

One is mostly black, but some white near the top edge. The other is mostly grey and some black and brown near the base. They are almost as large as my hand from wrist to finger tip. Not quite, but almost that size in length and width.

[Flag_This]

"This resulted in a total estimated length of 16.4 meters (54 feet) for that specific megalodon specimen."

You know how you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail.

[Red Badger]

Even a Sailfish of today can do 60+ mph for short distances..............

[Red Badger]

Mine was black and brown and the edges were worn down from being tossed about in the surf......................

[SunkenCiv]

They be extinct. Fun to speculate of course. Somewhere on the web there's a cool photo off someone standing by a set of the megalodon's choppers and next to a modern shark's choppers.

[gundog]

80? That’s a lot of feet, especially for a fish.