New Study Reveals True Size of Megalodon

Previously, the estimated size of Otodus megalodon (aka megalodon) was mainly determined from fossilized teeth. Scientists have also used the Carcharodon carcharias (aka great white shark) as the modern benchmark for size. Based on this, the thought was that the max scale of megalodon was about 15 to 18 meters.

But a UK research team from the University of Bristol and Swansea University has determined the overall size of the prehistoric shark. They used a mix of mathematical methods and comparisons with living relatives.

Jack Cooper, a palaeobiologist from the University of Bristol’s school of earth sciences, told The Guardian that this was his “dream project.” “Megalodon was actually the very animal that inspired me to pursue palaeontology in the first place at just six years old, so I was over the moon to get a chance to study it…This was my dream project. But to study the whole animal is difficult considering that all we really have are lots of isolated teeth.”

According to the results of the study, megalodon was likely to be 16 meters with a head about 4.65 meters long, a dorsal fin 1.62 meters tall, and a tail 3.85 meters high! To put this into perspective, an adult human would be about as tall as just its dorsal fin. The study expanded its comparison to five species of shark to help them project the true scale of this prehistoric mega-shark once and for all.