Why Cooler temperatures turned ancient sharks into gigantic creatures
The monstrous creature – Otodus megalodon – in 2018’s superhit sci-fi thriller “The Meg” remains etched in the memory of viewers because of its sheer menacing size. Now, a recent study as per a report in scitechdaily.com has disclosed that these extinct creatures also known as megatooth sharks became bigger in size in cooler environments than the warmer ones.
In their study, Kenshu Shimada, a professor of paleobiology at DePaul University along with other co-authors looked afresh at the body size patterns of megalodon, the fossil shark which was present between 15 to 3.6 million years ago on Earth, over time and space.
The scientists in their new study examined published records of geographic occurrences of the teeth of Meg in tandem with their estimated total body lengths.
Whatever is known to science about this species is through teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record. It is scientifically accepted that these creatures were huge in size, and grew to a minimum of 50 feet in length while some went on to attain 65 feet length.
Talking about their study Shimada remarked: “Our findings suggest a previously unrecognized body size pattern for the fossil shark, notably following a geography-driven ecological pattern known as Bergmann’s rule.”
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