Giant ancient shark may have gone extinct due to extinction of its small prey

Exposing the Big Game's avatarThe Extinction Chronicles

https://phys.org/news/2017-01-giant-ancient-shark-extinct-due.html

Giant ancient shark may have gone extinct due to extinction of its small prey
Credit: “Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with members from Italy, Belgium and Peru has found evidence that suggests the reason the giant shark megalodon went extinct millions of years ago, was because its small prey went extinct due to climate change. In their paper published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, the team describes fossils they found in Peru and their link to the giant ancient shark.

Megalodon lived approximately 17 to 2.6 million years ago, and at least some of the giant sharks grew to over 50 feet long, with jaws 10 feet wide. But why the largest shark to ever swim the world’s oceans suddenly went extinct remains a mystery. In this new…

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