Megalodon

Megalodon was a large prehistoric shark that last lived around 2 million years ago. It is closely related to the great white shark and mako sharks of today.

Size, Weight, and Anatomy
The megalodon shark is estimated to have been from 45-60 feet, based on measurements of the jaws. The mass of the megalodon is estimated at around 77 tons, but we can not prove it so far.

 Teeth-   The teeth of the megalodon are huge, much larger than those of any exsisting sharks. They have been known to measure 7 inches from top to tip. A megalodon would have had six rows with around 45 or 46 teeth in each. The teeth have many tiny serrations. The name of the shark actually means "big tooth". Ancient peoples collected megalodon teeth and made legends about huge sharks in their local waters based on the megalodon.

 Skeleton and Shape-  The main shape of the megalodon is the shape of most sharks, but much bulkier. It's jaws are huge and strong to hold all of the megalodon's teeth and has a bite force able to tear in to a whale and possibly bite off half or a fourth of a regular sized whale.

Prey
The megalodon preyed on the large whales that appeared a couple million years ago as their main source of food. They also probably ate dolphins and porpoises. The megalodon is estimated to have eaten 2,500 lbs a day.

Habitat
The megalodon was distributed in all oceans (even possibly the Arctic) because the oceans were warmer in their time. The reason they died out may have been the change in ocean temperatures.

Video
This is an informative Discovery Channel video about the Megalodon. Click here to see all the videos on this wiki.