Mars Black aka Steve Smith (British, b. 1975, Macclesfield, England) - To be perfectly honest, none of this was really going the way I had hoped, 2023, Paintings: Acrylic on Canvas
BAD NEWS: none of us who create anything in any medium will ever as long as we live have a single better idea or even as good of an idea as what I’m about to show you
sharks can fly. photos by (click pic) chris mclennan, dirk schmidt and chris fallows of great whites from false bay, south africa, who can reach speeds of 40mph and fly up to ten feet in the air when in pursuit of a seal. but given the energy required, it’s actually quite rare for the sharks to breach.
Reaching lengths of up to 60 feet and an estimated maximum weight of over 60 tons (that’s 20x as heavy as todays Great White), the Megalodon is the largest known predator in Earth’s history. The only existing marine animal that’s larger is the blue whale, which can grow as big as 100 feet and weigh more than 150 tons.
While most adult Megalodon teeth fell into the 4-5” size range, a few massive, fossil teeth have been found in excess of 7”. The largest verifiable Megalodon tooth is a 7.48” tooth found near Ocucaje, Peru.
Computer models estimate the Megalodon’s bite force between 24,000 to 40,000 pounds (10,900 to 18,100 kilograms), This is 6-10 times that of the Great White shark and modern crocodiles, This is also 2-3 times that of the estimated bite force of 12,800 pounds for T-Rex and the large Mosasaurs.
According to accounts dating back to the Renaissance, massive triangular teeth were often found buried in rocky mountains and were believed to be the fossilized tongues of dragons and snakes. It wasn’t until 1667 that they were recognized by Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno as shark teeth.
Megalodon pups were born an estimated 2 to 4 meters in size (6.6.ft – 13.1ft) at birth.
There are three main theories on how Megalodon went extinct:
Oceanic Cooling: This first theory suggests that accelerated changes in global circulation caused by the closure of the Central American Seaway (along with possible other factors such as Pliocene climate) set the stage for the build of of glaciers in the northern hemisphere consequently creating Ice Ages which cooled the oceans substantially. The Megalodon preferred warmer water so this may have impacted their resulted and eventual demise.
Decline in Food Supply: By the end of the Miocene many species that the Megalodon relied on for sustenance became extinct. Also the closure of the Central American Seaway caused further extinctions as well as cause faunal redistribution. This resulted in decreased diversity and abundance of great whales suggesting that most surviving species headed towards polar regions.
New Competition: This last theory is one of the least popular. It suggests that the emergence of raptorial killer whales contributed to the demise of the Megalodon. Fossil records show that the ancient whales could survive the new cold climates thus outlasting the mega tooth sharks.
“Megalodon” originates from two Greek words — megas, signifying “big”, and odont, signifying “tooth”.
Before anyone gets too excited, we have a post here explaining how it’s not possible that Megalodon is still alive,
