Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction
Abstract Inferring the size of extinct animals is fraught with danger, especially when they were much larger than their modern relatives. Such extrapolations are particularly risky when allometry is present. The extinct giant shark † Otodus megalodon is known almost exclusively from fossilised teeth...
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2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y |
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y 2023-05-15T17:06:30+02:00 Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction Cooper, Jack A. Pimiento, Catalina Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, Michael J. Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Natural Environment Research Council 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y 2022-01-04T10:53:10Z Abstract Inferring the size of extinct animals is fraught with danger, especially when they were much larger than their modern relatives. Such extrapolations are particularly risky when allometry is present. The extinct giant shark † Otodus megalodon is known almost exclusively from fossilised teeth. Estimates of † O. megalodon body size have been made from its teeth, using the great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) as the only modern analogue. This can be problematic as the two species likely belong to different families, and the position of the † Otodus lineage within Lamniformes is unclear. Here, we infer † O. megalodon body dimensions based on anatomical measurements of five ecologically and physiologically similar extant lamniforms: Carcharodon carcharias , Isurus oxyrinchus , Isurus paucus , Lamna ditropis and Lamna nasus . We first assessed for allometry in all analogues using linear regressions and geometric morphometric analyses. Finding no evidence of allometry, we made morphological extrapolations to infer body dimensions of † O. megalodon at different sizes. Our results suggest that a 16 m † O. megalodon likely had a head ~ 4.65 m long, a dorsal fin ~ 1.62 m tall and a tail ~ 3.85 m high. Morphometric analyses further suggest that its dorsal and caudal fins were adapted for swift predatory locomotion and long-swimming periods. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lamna nasus Springer Nature (via Crossref) Scientific Reports 10 1 |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
Multidisciplinary |
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Multidisciplinary Cooper, Jack A. Pimiento, Catalina Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, Michael J. Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Abstract Inferring the size of extinct animals is fraught with danger, especially when they were much larger than their modern relatives. Such extrapolations are particularly risky when allometry is present. The extinct giant shark † Otodus megalodon is known almost exclusively from fossilised teeth. Estimates of † O. megalodon body size have been made from its teeth, using the great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) as the only modern analogue. This can be problematic as the two species likely belong to different families, and the position of the † Otodus lineage within Lamniformes is unclear. Here, we infer † O. megalodon body dimensions based on anatomical measurements of five ecologically and physiologically similar extant lamniforms: Carcharodon carcharias , Isurus oxyrinchus , Isurus paucus , Lamna ditropis and Lamna nasus . We first assessed for allometry in all analogues using linear regressions and geometric morphometric analyses. Finding no evidence of allometry, we made morphological extrapolations to infer body dimensions of † O. megalodon at different sizes. Our results suggest that a 16 m † O. megalodon likely had a head ~ 4.65 m long, a dorsal fin ~ 1.62 m tall and a tail ~ 3.85 m high. Morphometric analyses further suggest that its dorsal and caudal fins were adapted for swift predatory locomotion and long-swimming periods. |
author2 |
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Natural Environment Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cooper, Jack A. Pimiento, Catalina Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, Michael J. |
author_facet |
Cooper, Jack A. Pimiento, Catalina Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, Michael J. |
author_sort |
Cooper, Jack A. |
title |
Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
title_short |
Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
title_full |
Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
title_fullStr |
Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: a 2D reconstruction |
title_sort |
body dimensions of the extinct giant shark otodus megalodon: a 2d reconstruction |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71387-y |
genre |
Lamna nasus |
genre_facet |
Lamna nasus |
op_source |
Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766061647867150336 |