Hollywood’s ‘Meg’ was more of a mako than a great white

THE largest shark that ever lived, the ‘meg’, was not the ‘super great white’ of Hollywood fame, a study has suggested.

The megalodon, which became extinct some 3.6 million years ago, was longer and slimmer than previously thought and could go without food for more than two months, scientists believe. Analysis of fossil evidence has changed their understanding of not only its shape but also its likely behaviours, including how often it ate.

It was previously thought it was a super-sized great white shark, which is how it has been depicted in novels and films, including The Meg, a 2018 blockbuster. However a better comparison would be today’s mako sharks, which are slimmer, researchers have said.

Prof Kenshu Shimada, of the University of California, said: “It was a ‘eureka-moment’ when our team realised the discrepancy between two previously published lengths for the same megalodon specimen. The remarkably simple evidence that O. megalodon had a more slender body than the great white shark was hidden in plain sight.” Researchers who re-examined fossils of megalodon teeth and vertebrae compared them to those of living shark relatives and found it was likely to have been longer than previous estimates of up to 60 feet and would, therefore, have had a longer digestive canal.

They had previously thought the creatures ate about 2,500 pounds of food per day – equivalent to two cows – but new evidence suggests it could have gone without food longer than the two months suggested by previous studies.

Phillip Sternes, first author of the study, said: “The results strongly suggest that the megalodon was not merely a larger version of the modern great white shark. With increased ability to digest its food, it could have gone for longer without needing to hunt. This meant less pressure on other creatures, so “whale populations would remain more stable over time”.

The discovery changes the likely cause of its extinction. It was thought its unsustainable food requirements led to its demise but it may have been ousted by the “more agile” great whites.