Reassessment of the possible size, form, weight, cruising speed, and growth parameters of the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), and new evolutionary insights into its gigantism, life history strategies, ecology, and extinction
Shimada, Kenshu, Motani, Ryosuke, Wood, Jake J., Sternes, Phillip C., Tomita, Taketeru, Bazzi, Mohamad, Collareta, Alberto, Gayford, Joel H., Türtscher, Julia, Jambura, Patrick L., Kriwet, Jürgen, Vullo, Romain, Long, Douglas J., Summers, Adam P., Maisey, John G., Underwood, Charlie, Ward, David J., Maisch, Harry M., Perez, Victor J., Feichtinger, Iris, Naylor, Gavin J.P., Moyer, Joshua K., Higham, Timothy E., da Silva, João Paulo C.B., Bornatowski, Hugo, González-Barba, Gerardo, Griffiths, Michael L., Becker, Martin A., and Siversson, Mikael (2025) Reassessment of the possible size, form, weight, cruising speed, and growth parameters of the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), and new evolutionary insights into its gigantism, life history strategies, ecology, and extinction. Palaeontologia Electronica, 28 (1). a12.
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Abstract
Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) is an iconic Neogene shark, but the lack of well-preserved skeletons has hampered our understanding of various aspects of its biology. Here, we reassess some of its biological properties using a new approach, based on known vertebral specimens of O. megalodon and 165 species of extinct and extant neoselachian sharks across ten orders. Using the median neurocranial and caudal fin proportions relative to the trunk proportion among non-mitsukurinid/ non-alopiid lamniforms, we show that O. megalodon could have had a slender body and possibly reached about 24.3 m in length. Allometric considerations indicate that a stout body plan like the extant white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) for O. megalodon could have incurred excessive hydrodynamic costs, further supporting the interpretation that O. megalodon likely had a slenderer body than C. carcharias. A 24.3-m-long O. megalodon may have weighed around 94 t, with an estimated cruising speed of 2.1–3.5 km h<sup>-1</sup>. A reanalysis of vertebral growth bands suggests a size at birth of 3.6–.
| Item ID: | 88739 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1094-8074 |
| Keywords: | body length, body mass, body reconstruction, Neogene, ontogeny |
| Copyright Information: | Copyright: March 2025 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2026 04:21 |
| FoR Codes: | 37 EARTH SCIENCES > 3705 Geology > 370506 Palaeontology (incl. palynology) @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences @ 100% |
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