Does the giant shark megalodon still exist?
(Baonghean.vn) - Megalodon, a giant fish with a length of more than 20 meters that lived in the oceans millions of years ago, could it exist somewhere in deep waters that humans have not yet explored? That is the question that many people ask after watching movies about the animal that once dominated the ocean.
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| Does the giant megalodon shark like in the movies still exist? Photo: Warner Bros |
Teeth longer than 15cm from the megalodon, once mistaken for those of a medieval dragon, are still found on some beaches in Victoria, South Australia.
Scientists say a megalodon's jaws, when opened, were larger than a man. Weighing between 50 and 100 tons, megalodons lived in oceans around the world 25 million years ago before disappearing about 1.5 million years ago.
However, many people still question whether humans are absolutely sure that this most terrible predator has really disappeared from the oceans?
Back in the 17th century, humans first realized that there was a giant shark living in the oceans by comparing what people thought were dragon teeth with teeth of modern sharks. Since then, people have discovered more and hypothesized about the survival of the megalodon to this day.
In 1918, a megalodon was allegedly sighted off the coast of Port Stephens, Australia. These rumors caused panic among lobster fishermen, who decided not to go to sea for weeks. In the 2000s, shark expert Bernard Seurat discovered a megalodon tooth while dredging sediment off the coast of New Caledonia.
He then handed it over to Philippe Hanvier, a CNRS researcher. Notably, Bernard said, “It (the megalodon tooth) is perfectly preserved and is really new, not like a fossil. What is more surprising is that this tooth is embedded in a modern animal.” In 2014, a film about “Megalodon, the living monster” presented evidence (including fake evidence) to prove its existence.
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| A scale model of the megalodon's teeth taken by Bashford Dean in 1909. |
Some surprising discoveries, such as the discovery of the coelacanth and the megamouth shark (with its giant mouth), have led many to believe that the megalodon may also be alive somewhere in the ocean. The coelacanth is an extremely ancient fish that was thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period about 65 million years ago. However, a specimen of this species was caught in 1938, another in 1952. Since then, several other specimens of the coelacanth have been discovered around the world. The megamouth shark, a plankton-eating species, was only discovered in 1976.
It is worth noting that coelacanths live very deep and spend most of their time in caves. The megamouth shark, which can grow up to 4.5m in length, also lives in very deep water. So it is not unusual for them to go undiscovered for a long time. This is completely different from the megalodon. Many scientists believe that a large predator like the megalodon cannot avoid causing a big commotion.
Fossils found on beaches are considered the best evidence of the extinction of the megalodon. Scientists have proven that the megalodon preferred warm, shallow waters where there were more prey to match its enormous size. And if it still existed, a predator like the megalodon would have left its mark. Because its impact on the food chain was extremely large. They would have eaten sharks and whales in all oceans and people would have discovered bite marks and scars that exceeded the size of a normal shark attack. So, for scientists, it is certain that the megalodon is extinct and cannot survive to this day.
