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How Megalodon possibly looked like

genao87 Offline
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#1

This is a very interesting video.  I started watching more videos from the youtube channel who brought the news of Megalodon maximum size being only around 14/15 meters.  In this video Meg is not even close to looking like a great white shark.  It looks very bulky and its mouth/gap is not as big as in many past pictures.  This is not currently a 100% accurate picture but one that is right now the closest we have of how Meg really looked like. I put a picture below and a video.   Its mouth is not as wide gap as I thought.  









*This image is copyright of its original author
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United States tigerluver Offline
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#2

Here's the original paper in Historical Biology, it's available for free so I've also attached a .pdf copy. Thank you for sharing the video. Will both take a watch and read of the paper. Hope you've been well @genao87!
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johnny rex Offline
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#3

(10-09-2019, 11:53 PM)genao87 Wrote: This is a very interesting video.  I started watching more videos from the youtube channel who brought the news of Megalodon maximum size being only around 14/15 meters.  In this video Meg is not even close to looking like a great white shark.  It looks very bulky and its mouth/gap is not as big as in many past pictures.  This is not currently a 100% accurate picture but one that is right now the closest we have of how Meg really looked like. I put a picture below and a video.   Its mouth is not as wide gap as I thought.  









*This image is copyright of its original author

I think that's the closest representatives of how Megalodons would look like in real life. They have shorter snout compared to the smaller sharks such as great white sharks.
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United States GrizzlyClaws Offline
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#4

Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.
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genao87 Offline
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(10-10-2019, 07:11 AM)tigerluver Wrote: Here's the original paper in Historical Biology, it's available for free so I've also attached a .pdf copy. Thank you for sharing the video. Will both take a watch and read of the paper. Hope you've been well @genao87!


Been doing well Tigerluver.   I hope you get a good read.  Was curious if you could give your opinion on what the AVERAGE length and weight of Megalodon would be since you are good at this stuff.    The paper just gave the maximum size only.  I think they did it purposely so they can come out with a 2nd paper on the average size of the animal.
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genao87 Offline
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(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.


yeah GrizzlyClaws,   do you think now that Livyathan Melville sperm whale can win without a doubt now?  also a pod of Orcas?    Meg doesnt look that intimating no more compare to so many pictures I have seen because it was model after the Great White.  its eyes are smaller and its mouth/gape doesn't look as impressive as i once imagine.
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United States GrizzlyClaws Offline
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#7

(10-10-2019, 11:59 PM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.


yeah GrizzlyClaws,   do you think now that Livyathan Melville sperm whale can win without a doubt now?  also a pod of Orcas?    Meg doesnt look that intimating no more compare to so many pictures I have seen because it was model after the Great White.  its eyes are smaller and its mouth/gape doesn't look as impressive as i once imagine.


If Livyatan could come out with some even more groundbreaking size, and it is surely going to become the undisputable top dog.

I read some rumor that the largest tooth of Livyatan is 20 inches, but most likely belonged to some obscure private collector, but so far the largest recorded one is 16 inches.
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genao87 Offline
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(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author
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United States GrizzlyClaws Offline
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#9

(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author


It still got those devastating razor sharp teeth, so it was still a fearsome apex predator nevertheless.

Livyatan might be the only contemporary apex predator that could triumph over Meg.
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genao87 Offline
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#10
( This post was last modified: 10-12-2019, 09:49 AM by genao87 )

(10-11-2019, 11:47 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote:
(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author


It still got those devastating razor sharp teeth, so it was still a fearsome apex predator nevertheless.

Livyatan might be the only contemporary apex predator that could triumph over Meg.


What about a POD of Orcas?   i believe with its new downsize,  a Pod of Orcas would defeat/kill it now.  That is assuming if it stayed and fight and not dive down deep to get away.
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United States GrizzlyClaws Offline
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#11

(10-12-2019, 09:24 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-11-2019, 11:47 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote:
(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author


It still got those devastating razor sharp teeth, so it was still a fearsome apex predator nevertheless.

Livyatan might be the only contemporary apex predator that could triumph over Meg.


What about a POD of Orcas?   i believe with its new downsize,  a Pod of Orcas would defeat/kill it now.  That is assuming if it stayed and fight and not dive down deep to get away.



Perhaps yes, but the cost of casualty for the orca pod would also be quite high.

So under the natural circumstance, they would likely try to avoid each other.
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Finland Shadow Offline
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#12

(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author

What is the source of that photo. I think, that it´s photoshopped by someone, that doesn´t look at all natural. But with photoshop something like that photo can be made.

What comes to megalodon and orcas, it´s good to remember, that orcas have killed whales over 20 meters long. So has megalodon been 15 or 18 meters long, it´s still not out of range of prey, which orcas can injure and kill. Of course it had big mouth and sharp teeth, but when attacked by another predator able to outmaneuver bigger one in movement, situation is very difficult to bigger one. Especially when knowing how intelligent mammals orcas are.

Since there is so little information, I don´t like to speculate too much, just pointing out, that size, no matter if 15 or 18 meters isn´t enough alone to make some marine animal immune towards attacks of orcas. At least if we are talking orcas in same sizes as they are today.
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genao87 Offline
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#13

(10-12-2019, 01:49 PM)Shadow Wrote:
(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author

What is the source of that photo. I think, that it´s photoshopped by someone, that doesn´t look at all natural. But with photoshop something like that photo can be made.

What comes to megalodon and orcas, it´s good to remember, that orcas have killed whales over 20 meters long. So has megalodon been 15 or 18 meters long, it´s still not out of range of prey, which orcas can injure and kill. Of course it had big mouth and sharp teeth, but when attacked by another predator able to outmaneuver bigger one in movement, situation is very difficult to bigger one. Especially when knowing how intelligent mammals orcas are.

Since there is so little information, I don´t like to speculate too much, just pointing out, that size, no matter if 15 or 18 meters isn´t enough alone to make some marine animal immune towards attacks of orcas. At least if we are talking orcas in same sizes as they are today.

I thought 18 meters for whales would of been enough to be saved from Orcas.   I know they have attacked Blue Whales but any animal over 18m i havent seen them kill.  could be wrong since i havent research that part deeply.   I know Type A Resident Killer Whales are the largest killer whales at 8-9 meters but so far they hunt mainly mink whales. 



The tiger most likely is from this Chinese park.   They kind of overfed their tigers and made them overweight a bit.   

https://imgur.com/gallery/uNxc8pH/comment/1466412609
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Finland Shadow Offline
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#14

(10-13-2019, 08:48 PM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-12-2019, 01:49 PM)Shadow Wrote:
(10-11-2019, 10:46 AM)genao87 Wrote:
(10-10-2019, 07:54 AM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Since Meg belonged to distantly related species from the GW, so there is no reason to believe it should look like a giant replica.

i know, but this look caught me by surprised.  he looks like an absolute unit...overweight for its size.   


*This image is copyright of its original author

What is the source of that photo. I think, that it´s photoshopped by someone, that doesn´t look at all natural. But with photoshop something like that photo can be made.

What comes to megalodon and orcas, it´s good to remember, that orcas have killed whales over 20 meters long. So has megalodon been 15 or 18 meters long, it´s still not out of range of prey, which orcas can injure and kill. Of course it had big mouth and sharp teeth, but when attacked by another predator able to outmaneuver bigger one in movement, situation is very difficult to bigger one. Especially when knowing how intelligent mammals orcas are.

Since there is so little information, I don´t like to speculate too much, just pointing out, that size, no matter if 15 or 18 meters isn´t enough alone to make some marine animal immune towards attacks of orcas. At least if we are talking orcas in same sizes as they are today.

I thought 18 meters for whales would of been enough to be saved from Orcas.   I know they have attacked Blue Whales but any animal over 18m i havent seen them kill.  could be wrong since i havent research that part deeply.   I know Type A Resident Killer Whales are the largest killer whales at 8-9 meters but so far they hunt mainly mink whales. 



The tiger most likely is from this Chinese park.   They kind of overfed their tigers and made them overweight a bit.   

https://imgur.com/gallery/uNxc8pH/comment/1466412609

I have seen fat tigers, but that photo you shared looks to be photoshopped, it just doesn´t look like natural.

What comes to whales, orcas have hunted and killed pygmy blue whales over 20 meters long. There are some recent cases: https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/predator-vs-prey/australias-orcas-are-attacking-blue-whales-and-it-might-be-more-common-than-you-think/
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Guatemala GuateGojira Offline
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#15
( This post was last modified: 10-14-2019, 09:41 PM by GuateGojira )

(10-12-2019, 01:49 PM)Shadow Wrote: What is the source of that photo. I think, that it´s photoshopped by someone, that doesn´t look at all natural. But with photoshop something like that photo can be made.

What comes to megalodon and orcas, it´s good to remember, that orcas have killed whales over 20 meters long. So has megalodon been 15 or 18 meters long, it´s still not out of range of prey, which orcas can injure and kill. Of course it had big mouth and sharp teeth, but when attacked by another predator able to outmaneuver bigger one in movement, situation is very difficult to bigger one. Especially when knowing how intelligent mammals orcas are.




Since there is so little information, I don´t like to speculate too much, just pointing out, that size, no matter if 15 or 18 meters isn´t enough alone to make some marine animal immune towards attacks of orcas. At least if we are talking orcas in same sizes as they are today.

I am agree with @Shadow in many points here.

First, that fat tiger is photoshoped, is not a real tiger. That is one of the orange tigers in Tiger Island in DreamWorld, Australia (Sultan, I guess).

Based on this new evidence, it seems that a Otodus/Carcharocles megalodon was at a maximum of 15 meters, which will equal to a great white of 6 meters. Above that will be quite exceptional. However we must remember that the whales of those days were also comparative small. The maximum size of the whales killed by O/C megalodon, like Cetotherimum, were about 10 meters long. Even the orcas of those days were relatively small, been of about 4 meters long (similar to the modern false killer whale). I don't think that the orcas will target the largest megalodon sharks but certainly were ready to kill the smaller ones of the size of the current whales of they days, at about 6-10 meters long.

It seams that in the time betweee Miocene and Pliocene, the animals like the baleen whales and even the orcas were much smaller than the modern representatives, so the only real giants, based in the fossil records, were the Otodus/Carcharocles megalodon and the Lyvyatan melvillei, with specimens reaching over 15 meters long.
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