Paleontologists have found traces of the fight between megalodon and sperm whale
Scientists have found the first evidence of an ancient giant shark (possibly a megalodon) attacking a sperm whale. The study was based on a fossil whale tooth, according to Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
On a sperm whale tooth with a length of 116.5, three marks from a shark bite are preserved. Two of them reach lengths of 23.5 and 11.5 mm.
The study showed that the whale, whose total body length was about 4 meters, was likely attacked by either Otodus chubutensis or its descendant, Otodus megalodon. The size of the shark remains unknown, but it was likely as large as its prey.
“Living great white sharks do not attack prey larger than themselves. If the same is true for the megalodon, then it was at least 15 feet (4.5 meters) long, “the researchers noted.
A whale's tooth was discovered by study co-author Norman Riker at the Nutrien Aurora phosphate mine in Aurora, North Carolina. Because the rock layers were intermixed, scientists were unable to date the sample – it could be between 4 and 15 million years old. In any case, it belongs to the warm era of the Neogene (23 – 2.5 million years ago), when modern North Carolina was covered by a shallow sea.
It is also unknown whether the prey was alive or dead at the time of the attack. Based on the strength of the bite, paleontologists suggested that the sperm whale would still be alive. Most likely, an ancient shark bit him in the head several times to inflict a fatal wound.
“These giant sharks hunted whatever they wanted, and no marine animal was immune from their attacks,” said lead author Stephen Godfrey.
Earlier it became known that the skeleton of a Jurassic shark was found in Germany. She lived about 150 million years ago.
