How Megalodon possibly looked like

[Spalea]

@Apex Titan :

OK, I understand your arguments... I was persuaded that Megalodon was the marine life apex predator. I don't mix the biotops, I will never compare the terrestrial predators with the marine predators because the rules aren't the same (for this reason one I don't appreciate the Steve Alten's book "The megalodon 2" cheerfully mixing and speculating encounters between mosasaurus and megalodon, megalodon and t.-rex and so on, mixing the epochs and the living environments reflects a lack of rigour). But the fact which perturbs me a little bit is to imagine the apex predator being the biggest animal which existed at a given time. Because if we don't consider the megalodon case, at any period the biggest animals which existed within a determined biotop weren't predator and by far... A 65 tons sharks would have been the absolute predator, the personified nightmare of the whole marine animal community, unless we learn it existed a 200 tons whale or leviathan. Just look at the extant animals (leaving aside the human action): there is no one terrestrial predator's weight exceeding 800 kilos, the most performing one is the tiger, 300 kilos whereas the biggest herbivores reach a few tons. And as concerns the extant marine life, orcas reach 6-8 tons, sperm whales 40 tons, but the blue whale far more heavier.

I remain persuaded there was some marine creatures which were able to withstand a megalodon but clearly we don't know them enough good. After all the ferocity, the temperament doesn't fossilize. Perhaps too, the megalodon was more indolent than the extant whales, even if I don't really think that... But we don't know everything about the Pliocene marine fauna, for sure. I would rather believe in a predator living in prides and knowing how to react together against a megalodon. In a way as the extant orcas would do. But even living in prides the "Pliocen orcas" should have been larger than the actual ones. Just to have a serious chance to collectively withstand... Reply