Famously, the Megalodon was the biggest shark in the world, and one of the most powerful predators to have ever lived.
Formally called Otodus megalodon, it is commonly portrayed as a gigantic, monstrous shark in novels and films, such as the 2018 sci-fi thriller ‘The Meg’.
But a new study suggests the Megalodon – which swam the seas roughly 15 to 3.6 million years ago – was a longer beast than previously thought.
Scientists have performed a comprehensive analysis of Megalodon remains that are known to exist – primarily teeth but also vertebrae (the individual bones of the spine).
The findings suggest the Megalodon was a longer, sleeker animal than we previously thought.
They say Megalodon reached 80 feet (24.3 metres) long – or about two school buses in length – and not 65 feet like previous estimates.
‘The length of 24.3 meters is currently the largest possible reasonable estimate for O. megalodon that can be justified based on science and the present fossil record,’ said lead author Professor Kenshu Shimada at DePaul University, Chicago.
It powered through the water at up to 2.9 miles per hour (4.8km/h) – slower but more ‘energy-efficient’ than already estimated.
Fearsome: The Megalodon (artist’s impression pictured) dominated oceans from about 15 to 3.6 million years ago, it’s been estimated
Professor Shimada led the study along with 28 other shark, fossil and vertebrate anatomy experts around the world.
Together they analysed the Megalodon’s vertebral column and compared it to more than 100 species of living and extinct sharks.
Their results, published today in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, reveal a more accurate proportion for the Megalodon’s head, body, and tail.
It more likely resembled today’s lemon shark, which has a slimmer body than the modern great white shark with which the Meg is usually compared.
The Meg’s head length and tail length possibly occupied about 16.6 per cent and 32.6 per cent, respectively, of the total body length, the study reveals.
‘Our new study has solidified the idea that O. megalodon was not merely a gigantic version of the modern-day great white shark,’ said study author Dr Phillip Sternes, a shark biologist at University of California, Riverside.
‘Rather than resembling an oversized great white shark, it was actually more like an enormous lemon shark, with a more slender, elongated body.
‘That shape makes a lot more sense for moving efficiently through water.’
The legendary creature has been depicted in the 2018 film ‘The Meg’ (pictured) starring Jason Statham and Rainn Wilson
This newly-revised body outline for Megalodon (24.3 meters or 80 feet long) is presented with a human being for scale (note that the two species never co-existed). Unfortunately, the exact shape, size and position of most fins remain unknown based on the present fossil record
The Meg was more like an enormous lemon shark (pictured), which have a leaner, more uniform body shape than great white sharks
Great white sharks (pictured) have a stocky, torpedo-shaped body built for bursts of speed, with a broad midsection that tapers sharply toward the tail
It also likely weighed an estimated 94 tons, comparable to a large blue whale, but with a body designed for energy-efficient cruising rather than continuous high-speed pursuit.
Meanwhile, a baby Megalodon was around 13 feet long, roughly the size of an adult great hammerhead shark, the experts reveal.
‘It is entirely possible that megalodon pups were already taking down marine mammals shortly after being born,’ said Dr Sternes.
Megalodon teeth have been excavated since ancient times, but the species was first scientifically described in 1835 by Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz
Since then, debates have raged over whether it was a high-speed predator or a slower, cruising hunter – but the study suggests it was somewhere in between.
Some estimates put the creature’s swimming speed at 3.1mph, although another study from 2023 suggested it was only 1.2mph – five times slower than Olympic maestro Michael Phelps.
The team admit that the exact shape, size, and position of the Megalodon’s fins remain unknown due to the lack of a thorough fossil record.
While there is no dispute that they existed or that they were gigantic, the Megalodon is known only from ancient fossilised teeth and vertebrae.
Pictured, Megalodon tooth with two great white shark teeth. This new study reveals the Meg was more likely resembled today’s lemon shark, which has a slimmer body than the modern great white shark with which the Meg is usually compared
Paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada (DePaul University, Chicago) holds a tooth of an extinct shark Otodus megalodon, or the so-called ‘Meg’ or megatooth shark
The Meg is only known from teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record, although it is generally accepted scientifically that the species was gigantic. Pictured, a 3D rendering of what it may have looked like
So what exactly the ancient predator looked like is largely ‘in the realm of speculations’, according to a prior paper by Professor Shimada.
Academics are hopeful that a full megalodon skeleton – what they describe as the ‘ultimate treasure’ – will one day be found, which could conclusively reveal what it looked like
According to another study, Megalodons grew to larger sizes in comparatively cooler environments, such as North Carolina and Peru, than in warmer areas, like in Florida and Panama.
These findings aligned with a principle known as Bergmann’s rule, where animals found in colder climates are often larger as a greater size allows them to retain more heat.
Scientists admit we still have no idea what the Megalodon really looked like
For more than a century, scientists have attempted to decipher the appearance of the megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived.
Now, scientists admit they still have no idea what the legendary creature really looked like when it swam the seas roughly 15 to 3.6 million years ago.
In a new study, experts say all previously proposed body forms of the gigantic megalodon remain ‘in the realm of speculations’.
Reconstruction of a full-scale Megalodon and a set of teeth at the Museo de la Evolución de Puebla in Mexico
‘The cartilage in shark bodies doesn’t preserve well, so there are currently no scientific means to support or refute previous studies on O. megalodon body forms,’ said lead author Phillip Sternes at University of California, Riverside.
But the academics are hopeful that a full megalodon skeleton – what they describe as the ‘ultimate treasure’ – will one day be found, which could conclusively reveal what it looked like.
‘The fact that we still don’t know exactly how O. megalodon looked keeps our imagination going,’ said study author Kenshu Shimada at DePaul University in Chicago.
