C. megalodon: extinct or alive?

[smashman90]

The Megalodon was a prehistoric relative of the Great White, it was said to grow between 45 to 60 feet long(some think it could grow even more than that) with jaws big enough to swallow a couple of people. Some scientists think that it might still be living while others disagree. I think that it might still be alive, I want your opinion on whether it's alive or not and why.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

interesting thread! ever since i was young have been interested in sharks and the megaladon. Well yes it probably could exist. with 90percent or so off unexplored ocean , as well as billions of marine organisms to sustain itself with i think that it is a large possibility, although after millions of years evolution the megaladon might not be the magnificant splendor that it once was

 

[smashman90]

Although that would have to depend on it's environment for adaptation and evolution. Who knows, maybe it got bigger or smaller, if it lives in deep dark waters then it would probably have a luminescent glow to it(Just like in the Meg series which are actually pretty good books).

 

[McFox]

It's possible. As you probably realize, the Coelacanth was recently discovered alive, so I wouldn't rule it out.

Meh, I don't have a lot to add here. It's possible, but I have no idea how likely it is.

 

[smashman90]

Don't forget about the megamouth shark too, it was discovered by mistake by a navy submarine (I remember that it was discovered by mistake but I am not so sure if it was discovered by a Navy sub). Then the Japanese had a video of the giant squid( a real one that was still alive when taped).

 

[GoldShadow]

I don't think any ecosystem has enough food for a Megalodon to survive. Also, giant squids have been known to exist for a while, so as interesting as the video of a live one was, it wasn't a new discovery. The coelacanth was an interesting find too, but it's a lot smaller than a giant shark, and would have an easier time surviving.

 

[smashman90]

Hey you forgot about the megamouth shark. It was big and nobody found it until the 70s' or 80s'. Besides, we haven't explored through every single part of the ocean so we never know what we could find and remember, this a shark so if it dies it won't float up to the surface, it will just sink. And to answer the ecosystem question here is what I have to say: Back in prehistoric times, the megalodons were searching for a warmer habitat whenever the ice age was goin on. It probably found a small tropical island that would have probably sunk back into the ocean later. The sharks would have swam deeper to stick with the warm water which would probably lead it to the bottom of the ocean. Also have you ever heard of underwater volcanoes and hydrothermal vents? Because those things would've kept them warm that's for sure.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

true but it would take millions of years to adapt. you can't just swim to the bottom of the ocean there is too much pressure

 

[Varuna]

For the most part I think that it is Highly unlikely that it still exist for the reason stated By goldshadow. The creatures thrived when there where bigger things around to eat but to our knowledge there is nothing like that left. HOWEVER, alot of people are incredibly ignorant of the amount of space the ocean bottom takes up. Its roughly enough space to house a race similar to ours but with a population 40 times higher and still have room for their parks.

It is possible, though highly unlikely, that there are food sources to satisfy the megladons needs down there, If you were to say "but we have already been down their and weve never seen anything that big". I would say, Number 1, Its dark even with our fancy flash lights we can see maybe 30-49 yards and Number 2, as I said before the Ocean is incredibly Huge, if you were to look at the amount of space actually explored by us you would get some sparse pindots across the board. Bottom line is there is enough room down there to hid pretty much anything. : /


Seeds Of sorrow, pressure only affects Air cavities and since a shark(breathing oxygen in Water) has none it has full capability of going to the bottom of the ocean. Even so its pretty much only us that have such intolerance to Pressure. Pretty much all species of birds and also dolphins and whales can goto to botom of the ocean if, If we putem there hehe.

 

[smashman90]

Exactly, besides for all we know there could be other prehistoric creatures living in the bottom of the ocean or other sea creatures that we haven't even discovered yet. Also, aren't sperm whales bigger than a megalodon( I don't know if that would be true or not since we don't have a fully grown Meg)? Don't you think that it is odd that we have explored a lot of outer space but we haven't even came close to exploring all of the ocean?

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

i think that we have explored less of space than we have of the ocean, but that is besides the point. But for all we know the megaladon could not even be that be that big any more it has been millions of years hasn't it?

 

[commonyoshi]

Anything is possible, but I dont think it is alive today. Even if you give me all the fact on how it could be alive, without real proof like eye witnesses, I'm not going to believe it.

Anyways... Assuming that this shark did live at th bottom of the ocean. It's not like a creature that big that has been used to complete darkness would just swim over to the subs. Bright light would irritate it and make it swim away. Not that I know enough about fish to guess what their behavior would be.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

oh also their are two types of "extinct". one is completely extinct in which there is absolutely no trace of the specimen and it is long dead. and there is another which is when there is such a small population of the specimens that they have no hope of repopulating. which do you think the meg. is ?

 

[Deleted member]

Pic for size (BBC):

They would need a lot to eat. Fully grown Megalodons ate whales. Do you think they could survive on the already-hunted whale populations?

Its not impossible, but very unlikely.

BTW, most original topic ever. Kudos to you.

 

[GoldShadow]

Seeds Of sorrow, pressure only affects Air cavities and since a shark(breathing oxygen in Water) has none it has full capability of going to the bottom of the ocean. Even so its pretty much only us that have such intolerance to Pressure.

Pressure crushes tissue as well, and marine creatures do have air cavities inside them as well. Though you are right that we've only explored a fraction of the ocean.

 

[smashman90]

Anything is possible, but I dont think it is alive today. Even if you give me all the fact on how it could be alive, without real proof like eye witnesses, I'm not going to believe it.

Anyways... Assuming that this shark did live at th bottom of the ocean. It's not like a creature that big that has been used to complete darkness would just swim over to the subs. Bright light would irritate it and make it swim away. Not that I know enough about fish to guess what their behavior would be.

Well on the eye witnesses there have been reports of sperm whales(or maybe it was humpback whales I don't remember) with supposed Meg teeth inside of them but I think those are likely just urban legends (unless some institute or the government are hiding the facts or something). I have also heard of Stead story where some giant shark ate a lot of craypots(or something like that) just in one bite right in front of a group of fishermen although people think it is a hoax but the people that lived in that area knew that the fishermen are the ones that would make something up like that. I would search on Wikipedia or whatever it is called and use the search for Megalodon.

Also, for determining the megalodon's size they look at it's teeth because they have a formula to determine the shark's size by looking at teeth and well I forgot the rest of the equation but you can find it on the internet though.

The meg could survive on current whale population and we don't know what all lives down at the bottom of the ocean so the meg could be feeding on other things besides whales. If lights from subs were seen by the meg it would probably do stuff like a taste bite to see if it was edible since the lights would be detected some of its sensory organs that made the sub noticable to the meg. On the pressure situation, the meg could do it but it was strenous(sorry if I mispelled it). I would say that the meg population is low if existing due to the fact that it would attack it's own pups.

 

[tmw_redcell]

Could exist, but probably not. Whenever a crew goes on a deep sea dive they almost always discover a few new crazy sea monsters, but they're little guys they suck up with a vacuum, not leviathans. If they do exist, they have a very small population spread over a wide area that is rarely explored, they don't come near the surface. It'd be really awesome if they evolved to be transparent with their own natural lights, but that probably didn't happen, that doesn't seem like a very carnivorous thing to do.

Maybe the whale population is really high, and we just don't know because megalodons keep eating them. But, after having evolved for millions of years, they could have come onto land into a horrible, destructive creature...mankind!

 

[smashman90]

ohhh . . . .kay . Well on the transparent part that could be possible because since they would adapt then they would have a luminescent glow but nothing like transparent enough to see their internal organs or something like that to lure their prey and to help see in the dark.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

If lights from subs were seen by the meg it would probably do stuff like a taste bite to see if it was edible since the lights would be detected some of its sensory organs that made the sub noticable to the meg.

that is absolutely correct. if a sub roughly a megaladon size was to go near a megaladon, (assuming it follows normal shark behavior) it would bite the submarine to "feel" it. as a shark has no hands, it's mouth has become its "hands", because its mouth has so many sensors

 

[smashman90]

I forgot to mention that the Megalodon might attack the sub if it thinks it is a challenger for the territory or for food. Or it could think that the sub might be a mate(I would have to doubt that though).

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

about the pups, where would they grow? i mean that where would the mother put the mermad pouch? also it would have a lot of pups because if they lved at the bottom of the ocean then food would be scarce

 

[smashman90]

They would grow inside the mother and would be born just like a human being would. I don't understand that last sentence Seed of Sorrow could you please rephrase that?

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

sure. I was saying that the shark would have to have a lot of pups because they are born in an unhospitable environment, the bottom of the ocean. Also because of the canabalism, and natural selection due to the lack of food. Also if they were to have many pups at one time i don't think that it would be practical to have the pups live inside the mother.

300th post

 

[smashman90]

How do you know that the environment was unhospitable? Because for one we don't know how much abundance of food there is for the megalodons so we can't say that their environment is harsh. I don't know for sure how much pups they would have though. I guess that would have to depend on the size of the mother and the pups, I would guess that they could have as up to 12 pups per mother. Sorry if I sounded harsh to you earlier about the environment being unhospitable.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

don't worry about it. But would the pups be born like mammals (given that the pups are all born at one time), i mean wouldn't it be impractical to have that many pups born in such a way?

 

[smashman90]

The pups would most likely be born like mammals one at a time. What do you mean by impractical?

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

I meant that i don't think evolution would allow it, because of natural selection. I don't know, it just seems a little inefficient, but as we don't know much about the environment it could be possible because we don't know what creatures could prey upon newborn megaladons.

 

[GoldShadow]

Great white sharks give birth to 8-10 live pups (like a mammal would). One at a time, obviously.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

i know that but would it be a consecutive process? like would they be born wthin minutes of each other/

 

[smashman90]

Good point. Also, the bigger pups will also feed on the smaller weaker ones if they need to eat. The main predator that adult megs would have to face are other megs, humans, and any other creatures that haven't been discovered that could take on a meg. young megs would have to face other megs, humans, and other sea creatures like orcas and large whales.

 

[GoldShadow]

i know that but would it be a consecutive process? like would they be born wthin minutes of each other/

Yeah, that's how birthing works.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

Wait, I thought that great white sharks gave birth with mermaid pouches?

 

[smashman90]

sucks doesn't it. Boy am I glad to be a boy(teenager, man, whatever you get the picture). I am also surprised that this thread is getting popular.

 

[smashman90]

Nope. You must be thinking of whale sharks.

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

ok then thanks for the info. I think that it is becoming popular because you and I are posting in it a lot, so peoples curiosity is being invoked

 

[smashman90]

You and me should agree on various threads and start posting like crazy on them to get attention don't you think?

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

hmmmm..... maybe, but they have to be intelligent because we will be hated because we spam, trust me

 

[smashman90]

Alright, then I guess we will have to make our own!

 

[Seed of Sorrow]

"our own" as in we both make different threads, or one combined thread?

 

[smashman90]

Threads that we can agree on, it could be combined or not as long as the other person oks it.
(Anybody else that would like to talk to me please pm me, do not email me, thanks)