There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Quote: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...
You made some good points. I also see why you'll never compare terrestrial predators with marine predators, fair enough. In a way, you're right. The rules aren't the same.
There's no way the megalodon could have been more "indolent" than the extant whales. Absolutely not possible and makes no sense. The megalodon was the supreme apex predator of the ocean, which means it must have regulated the populations of other predators and super-predators. It was an active hunter at the very top of the food-chain. In a way, megalodon did what tigers do today. Just like how Amur tigers actively hunt and kill other large predators like bears, which regulates the bears populations, and also actively pursue, kill and reduce wolf populations to the point of localized extinction, the megalodon was also actively killing and eating other marine predators, which also regulated or severely reduced their numbers. So its a very similar dynamic.
Here's a video from the researchers. Emma Kast states: "The megalodon must have been at a extraordinarily high position in the marine food-web, and not just high in terms of similarity to apex predators we have today, but actually multiple trophic levels higher than anything we have in the modern ocean."
Professor & researcher Daniel Sigman states: "Their diet must have been largely composed of predatory and super-predatory animals."
As to other marine animals able to withstand megalodon. A whole pod of Livyatan Melvillei whales probably could. An entire pod (mainly comprised of adult whales) may have been able to withstand a lone megalodon, but if the megalodon came across a lone Livyatan Melvillei, then the Livyatan whale would have been in serious trouble.
If the mosasaurus lived alongside the megalodon, then the mosasaurus would have got destroyed. It would have had zero chances against the megalodon. The mosasaurus only weighed around 15 tons, whereas the megalodon weighed 50 - 65+ tonnes. Its a complete mismatch, the mosasaurus would have been food for the megalodon.
God knows what other undiscovered creatures existed in the prehistoric oceans. We can only imagine or speculate.
Quote:What I just want to say: prehistoric marine life has always been abundant, prolific. The sharks have always been a success of the evolution: they survived through 5 main extinctions even if we consider that the biggest shark of the Cretaceous ocean disappeared with the marine reptiles 65 millions years ago. Just after, sharks regained lost ground. In short, sharks have never been alone under the sea, it's difficult to believe, that suddendly, a monstruous shark, the megalodon, dominated so intensively. They coudn't be alone, I am just persuaded about that.
Well, honestly, I don't know of any other marine creature that could have been on par with megalodon, in terms of size, power, weaponry, dominance, killing prowess etc. Maybe there was another predator but hasn't been discovered yet. Who knows? But that's just a wild guess.
But overall, the sheer dominance of the megalodon is simply undeniable. Their absolute top position in the food-chain and active predation on other predators/super-predators clearly indicates that they did indeed dominate so intensively.
However, I'm always interested when wildlife experts/scientists make new discoveries about other unknown predators which existed in Prehistoric times.
You talk just like a little fanboy who imagine animals like war machines, it is really pathetic. Megalodon was a great predator without any doubts, very massive and strong without any doubt. But in water, there are more important factors like mobility, social behaviors, intelligence... A pod of orcas is probably much more dangerous than your Megalodon for many reasons.
And concerning tigers and bears, whatever you think, bears are stronger, have a better plasticity and have more cognitive capacities than tigers and an adult male brown bear in good health has nothing to fear about tigers. But you know, i know tiger fanboys who believe that a tiger could kill a prehistoric elephant which is 10 tons in mass. How stupid they are...
