There was briefly some hope that the megalodon may not have gone extinct when an Atlantic ocean scanner detected a 50-foot-long shape that weighed about 40 tons and weighed about 40 tons.
On Monday, the Atlantic Shark Institute posted a picture to their Instagram page wondering if the infamous Meg might still be alive.
The largest great white shark ever recorded, a female by the name of Deep Blue, measured 20 feet in length and weighed roughly 4,500 pounds.
Based on its shape, it was too large to be a great white.
Due to the discovery's length being more than twice that amount, it is estimated to weigh about 40 tons.
According to the post, the team members were amused seeing this shape show up on their fish finder for a few minutes during a recent shark research expedition.
The "Meg" is estimated to be about 50 feet long and weigh 40 tons based on the length of the image, they continued.
The Verdict
The team waited patiently for one of the rods to go off, but much to their dismay, the shape started to change into a sizable school of Atlantic mackerel that swam around the boat for about 15 minutes, according to a later conclusion of the post.
The Megalodon (Otodus megalodon) vanished over 3 million years ago and is probably not coming back, but for a brief period, the team believed it had.
Lilbabyjo and Eobreton both commented on the post, with Lilbabyjo stating that the megalodon is out there and Eobreton admitting that he briefly became excited.
User Thesharkdoctor laughed because his heart would have raced at that.
Megalodon
According to the article, the earliest megalodon fossils are from about 20 million years ago, and the predators dominated the oceans for millions more years after that.
According to the Natural History Museum in London, the enormous shark ruled the oceans for the previous 13 million years before going extinct merely 3.6 million years ago.
The website went on to provide more information about their evolution, stating that the Otodus obliquus shark, which is 55 million years old and reached a maximum length of 10 meters, is the oldest known ancestor of the megalodon.
However, the evolutionary history or lineage of the shark is thought to date back to Cretalamna appendiculata, which is over 100 million years old and 105 million years old, respectively.
The museum claimed that the creatures were three times larger than the largest great whites, measuring between 49 and 59 feet in length.
Read also: Simulation Reveals the Ancient Megalodon Has Been the World's Fastest Shark Ever
Say Cheese!
These measurements are determined by the size of the megalodon's teeth, which could reach a length of 18 centimeters in the absence of a complete skeleton.
The term megalodon just means "large tooth."
The sea creatures' teeth reveal a lot, including what these enormous animals consumed.
According to a theory supported by the finding of fossilized whale bones with teeth marks left by megalodons, the enormous creatures preyed on humpback whales.
The Museum further explained that some even contain the tips of teeth that were broken off during a feeding frenzy that happened millions of years ago and lodged in the bone.
The 11-foot-wide opening of the enormous shark's mouth was lined with 276 rows of teeth.
One of the most potent predators to have ever lived may have been the shark, according to studies reconstructing the bite force.
Megalodon teeth are still occasionally found today; one was just recently found in North Carolina.
Sharks lose one set of teeth every two weeks, so they go through 40,000 in their lifetime, which explains why there are so many of them.
More have survived because they are the most resilient component of the skeleton.
No Megs
The museum cited Emma Bernard, the curator of the museum's fossil fish collection, is putting an end to the notion that they might still be present in the ocean's depths, as suggested by The Meg's plot.
She said that even with what the Discovery Channel has claimed in the past, it is unquestionably not alive in the deep oceans.
If a megalodon-sized animal still existed in the oceans, the museum would be aware of it.
Megalodon will not be able to withstand the cold waters of the deep seas, although it would have a better chance of hiding because the creatures are warm-water species.
There would also be many recent megalodon teeth and telltale bite marks on other animals, Newsweek reported.
Related article: Researchers Calculate the Trophic Level of Megalodon Sharks and What Did They Eat by Analyzing a Shark Tooth Enamel
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