Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: A 2D reconstruction
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. Estimate...
Published in: | Scientific Reports |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10550/85576 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y |
id |
ftunivalencia:oai:roderic.uv.es:10550/85576 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivalencia:oai:roderic.uv.es:10550/85576 2024-02-04T10:01:56+01:00 Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: A 2D reconstruction Cooper, J. A. Pimiento, C. Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, M. J. 2023-03-01T17:16:18Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10550/85576 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y eng eng Scientific Reports, 2020, vol. 10, p. 14596 COOPER, J. A. PIMIENTO, C. FERRON, H. G. BENTON, M. J. 2020 Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: A 2D reconstruction Scientific Reports 10 14596 https://hdl.handle.net/10550/85576 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y 136147 open access Paleontologia journal article 2023 ftunivalencia https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y 2024-01-10T00:06:12Z 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 Universitat de València: Roderic - Repositorio de contenido libre Scientific Reports 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universitat de València: Roderic - Repositorio de contenido libre |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalencia |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleontologia |
spellingShingle |
Paleontologia Cooper, J. A. Pimiento, C. Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, M. J. Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: A 2D reconstruction |
topic_facet |
Paleontologia |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cooper, J. A. Pimiento, C. Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, M. J. |
author_facet |
Cooper, J. A. Pimiento, C. Ferrón, Humberto G. Benton, M. J. |
author_sort |
Cooper, J. 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 |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10550/85576 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y |
genre |
Lamna nasus |
genre_facet |
Lamna nasus |
op_relation |
Scientific Reports, 2020, vol. 10, p. 14596 COOPER, J. A. PIMIENTO, C. FERRON, H. G. BENTON, M. J. 2020 Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon: A 2D reconstruction Scientific Reports 10 14596 https://hdl.handle.net/10550/85576 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y 136147 |
op_rights |
open access |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71387-y |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1789968190308089856 |