| Now, given my background in the business world, I'm pretty used to dealing with sharks. But let me tell you now, that's a whole world away from the one Megalodon's from. 'Cause you dare get in the water with this shark? Ooh boy... you are not coming out. |
Megalodon is a genus of prehistoric mackerel shark in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Originating from the Early Miocene worldwide, it is the largest shark known to exist. It's part of the Park Managers' Collection Pack and is currently the largest and strongest aquatic creature available in the game.
Characteristics[]
Without a doubt the largest and most powerful predatory animal, let alone carnivorous fish, to have ever existed, Megalodon is an apex predator that ruled the oceans for nearly twenty million years, dating back to the Miocene period, and is the largest shark ever to have existed – growing up to 15 meters in length and 50 tons in weight. Its name, which translates as "Big Tooth", is self-explanatory: Megalodon has six rows of teeth that grew up to seven inches in length. With a bite force five times stronger than that of Tyrannosaurus (in fact, possessing the most powerful jaws of any organism ever recorded – enough to bite a humpback whale in half), this colossal hunter is the true meaning of ferocity.
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Behavior[]
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Paleontology[]
The exact nature of Megalodon's initial discovery is unclear, although there are descriptions of its teeth dating back almost 2,500 years. The genus was formally described for the first time in 1835 by Swiss-American biologist Louis Agassi, based on detailed analysis of a number of teeth. When Megalodon was first discovered, it was originally (and for a long time) believed to be a direct ancestor to the great white shark and was given the name Carcharodon megalodon – translated to "Jagged Big Tooth". As such, Megaldodon was depicted to have looked essentially like a great white shark (dark gray top, ghost white underside, etc.), only much larger and more robust. Over time and in recent years, this has since been rescinded. Megalodon is now believed to be a member of an extinct genus of sharks, known as Otodus. Since then it has gone from Carcharodon to Carcharocles and finally to Otodus megalodon. Nevertheless, Megalodon is still believed to have looked like a great white, but only stockier – a shark large enough to attack and prey on whales, no matter what species or how large. As a result, Megalodon has been dubbed "The Whale Killer".
The largest shark (let alone, carnivorous fish) to have ever existed, a wide variety of sizes have been proposed for Megalodon. Some of the oldest estimates suggested that the shark could reach around 26 m (85 ft) long, according to J. Schembri and Stephen Papson in 1994. A jaw reconstruction by Dean, would get the shark to be around 30.5 m (100 ft) long, but the jaw reconstruction is considered too tall. Today, scientists agree that, on average, the shark reached up to 11 to 15 m (35 to 50 ft) long and weighing 12 to 50 t (26,000 to 110,000 lb). However, some fragmentary remains, such as large teeth and vertebrae remains, suggest some of the largest individuals reached around 20.43 m (67 ft) in length and weighed over 100 t (220,000 lb). This is without considering that there's private teeth could possibly yield even larger sizes of more than 21 m (70 ft).
Due to Megalodon being a shark and therefore having no skeleton, only its teeth (which measure between 5 and 9 inches long) are proof that Megalodon existed. Its teeth are almost identical to a great white (triangular-shape and serrated) and comparing the teeth of the two species help give paleontologists an idea to what Megalodon looked like and how large it was as well as creating casts of its jaws, which measured around 3.4 m (11 ft) wide and were lined with 276 triangular-shaped, serrated teeth. Additionally, Megalodon is speculated to have had by far the most powerful jaws of any creature on the planet, possessing a bite force of around 20 t (40,000 lb) – more than three times the bite force of Tyrannosaurus and more than enough to slice through flesh and crush bones of even whales. This would make Megalodon without a doubt the largest and arguably most powerful carnivorous animal the world has ever seen. Although Megalodon was said to have become extinct just before the Pleistocene, there are people (some scientists included) whom believe it could still be alive today, living in the deepest, darkest regions of the ocean.
Paleoecology[]
From the Early Miocene to the Mid-Late Pliocene Eras, 23 to 3 million years ago, Megalodon is known to have existed in every ocean across the entire world, with specimens recovered from every continent bar Antarctica. The genus preferred warmer waters so tended to stick to sub-tropical areas, although it was adapted to survive in cold temperatures as well. With around 276 teeth in its impressive jaws, Megalodon was by far the largest and apex predator of its time and environment, preying on everything from turtles to squid, other sharks, sea cows, and even whales. With that, Megalodon was said to have had nothing to fear, therefore no rivals and no natural predators, save for only larger Megalodon. Among the contemporaries of Megalodon were various species of whales (such as Livyatan, Brygmophyseter, Cetotherium, Zygophyseter, Acrophyseter, Albicetus, Odobenocetops, Squalodon, etc.), the semiaquatic ground sloth Thalassocnus, and ancient mako shark Cosmopolitodus.
Trivia[]
- Discounting the hybrids, Megalodon is the first Cenozoic animal to be added in the game.
- When the Megalodon eats fish, its jaws extend out of its mouth while its eyes are covered by a nictitating membrane, a feature seen in modern day sharks when eating.
Gallery[]
Images[]
External Links[]
- Megalodon on Wikipedia
