What we can learn from the extinction of Megalodon is that we should also focus on the effect of prey when studying the potential for extinction in our apex predators. Share: Share. Instead, he suggests the authors may have overlooked other culprits, like the modern tiger shark, which also shared similar territory to the juvenile megalodon. The extinction of megalodon set the stage for further changes in marine communities. Now, some telling bite marks are providing clues to both mysteries. … The previously unknown extinction led to the loss of around a third of the Earth's largest marine mammals, including the giant shark, Carcharocles megalodon. This is too early for megalodon to have been wiped out during the same mass extinction that took out many other marine species, so there must have been a different cause… Scattered distribution, insufficient food, or increased vulnerability of its pups may all have played a role. Eventually, all of the Megalodon's prey was being eaten by the Great Whites, and the Megalodon essentially went extinct due to a lack of food. The #megalodon was an amazing, powerful animal, and is an incredible part of our planet’s history—but that’s all it is now, history. While there are scientists who believe both of the mentioned causes of extinction, there’s also an ongoing debate about the cause of the megalodon’s extinction. A previous estimate dated Megalodon's extinction to as recently as 1.5 million years ago, but the reports upon which that number are based are widely deemed unreliable. The latest research published in the PeerJ journal challenges that by re-evaluating pre-existing data and redating the extinction back to around a million years earlier.. "The extinction of O. megalodon was previously thought to be related to this marine mass extinction-but in reality, we now know the two are not immediately related," Boessenecker said. The average body size of baleen whales increased significantly after its disappearance, although possibly due to other, climate-related, causes. Other reports suggest it could have been other predators, such as the tiger shark which was the culprit. LOS ANGELES-A new research showed supernova which happened 2.6 million years ago may have touched off climate change and triggered mass extinctions of large ocean animals including Megalodon. Several studies note that authentic fossil teeth attributed to megalodon do not occur later than the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary (2.58 million years ago), suggesting that megalodon died out around that time. An expert on ancient sharks told National Geographic that he is not convinced that just one species can cause such a decline.. The megalodon has been extinct for millions of years, but the huge prehistoric shark still fascinates people today. For more than 10 million years, Megalodon was at the top of its game as the oceans’ apex predator...until 2.6 million years ago, when it went extinct. According to a new study, the culprit wasn't Jason Statham but a series of supernovae exploding fairly close to Earth. Despite its fame, surprisingly little is known about the mighty megalodon's diet – or its extinction. The Extinction of Megalodon. This means that the megalodon extinction is not immediately related to the mass dying of seals, walruses, sea cows, porpoises, dolphins and whales around 1 … Megalodon driven to extinction by competition with great white shark and killer whale ancestors; Giant monster Megalodon sharks lurking in our oceans: Be serious! There’s a new suspect in the mystery of the megalodon’s extinction. The hypothesis is intriguing, but the debate over the megalodon's extinction isn't likely to end here. Marks are providing clues to both mysteries climate-related, causes species can cause such a... 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