If a megalodon existed could they come up from the mariana trench?

Answer 1

Carcharodon Megalodon

a big, big shark...
What's the biggest, most aggressive, most fearsome shark you can think of? Well, that would have to be the Great White Shark, White Death, Carcharodon carcharias. A shark measuring up to 23 feet in length, and having teeth up to 2 inches long. Ouch.



Now, what if this shark was twice as big? Hmmm...

Now, what if this shark was four times as big, or bigger? Gulp.

And what if this shark might still be alive?

Now we're talking megalodon.



Carcharodon megalodon is the Great White Shark's big brother! Estimated to be exactly like the Great White Shark in proportion, but two to six times larger. That's a total of anywhere from 50 to 120 feet in length! And teeth up to 8 inches in length!

OK, so what's all this about this shark being alive? Well, the reason we know that this shark even existed is that we've found its teeth. Its teeth? That's right. Sharks don't have bones­they are made out of cartilage, so they can't leave any bones behind for us to study. But their teeth do fossilize and they hang around for a long time! We've found megalodon's teeth and they are almost exactly like Carcharodon carcharias's teeth, only bigger­ much bigger. And guess what? Some of the teeth we've found weren't fossilized, they were recent! How recent? Ten to twenty years old. Holy smokes! That means that this shark was swimming in our seas as recently as ten to twenty years ago! Has anyone ever seen it? Well, there are lots of eyewitness accounts, some of them estimating the shark at up to 300 feet in length (!), and even some sonar accounts.

But are they Tall Fish Tales? Or are they real?


Hmmm...megalodon...



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Need more info on the meg? May we suggest:

"Meg, a Novel of Deep Terror" by Steve Alten (ISBN 055357910X). Fictional, of course, but a great shark story!!!!! Available on audiocassette too. Scientific accuracy is pretty good up until the end where it rather fails. But don't blame us for our recommendation if you don't want to go in the water afterwards!
"Let's go Fossil Shark Tooth Hunting" by B. Clay Cartmell (ISBN 0930498011). A super guide to fossilized teeth, which is pretty much all we have to go on with our chondrichthyes chums. Provides some good background on how teeth become fossilized, as well as how to identify them. It has a nice write up on our friend.
http://www.megalodonteeth.com/
http://www.elasmo.com/selachin/gw/c_extn.html
http://www.megalodonteeth.com/html/gift.html
http://www.fossilshark.com
http://www.strangemag.com/megalodon.html
http://www.megalodonteeth.com/html/about.html
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/Fish/research/white/megatoothshark.htm
http://www.elasmo.com/selachin/gw/cvc_intr.html

American Museum of Natural History, NY- they have a reconstruction of megalodon's jaws.
"Kelley's Guide to Fossil Sharks" by K. V. Kelley, Jr.
"Fossil Sharks: A Pictoral Review" by Gerard R. Case
"Blue Meridian, The Search for the Great White Shark" by Peter Matthiessen (ISBN 0140265139)
"Size of the Great White Shark" by John E. Randall published in "Science"

Answer 2

Mariana Trench Megalodon

Answer 3

The megalodon has long been extinct. and scientists have come up with a theory that when it was alive, it fed on cetaceans and whales. The creatures found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, according to Walsh and Piccard, two men who dived down to the bottom in a bathyscape(deep-sea diving submersible, looks kind of like a submarine), were just small flounders the size of shrimp. So, if the megalodon still exists, it wouldn't be found in the Mariana Trench since there would be no food for it there. But I suppose it is possible for it to still exist in some other area in the deep sea!

Hope this helps out!

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
If a megalodon existed could they come up from the mariana trench?

Answer 5

The Megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon, from ancient Greek, megas + don, literally "big tooth") was a giant prehistoric shark that probably lived between about 20 to 1.2 million years ago.

From the size of this shark, estimates of weight go as high as 60 tons. Assuming similar metabollc-weight ratios as the Great White Shark, it is estimated that a large Megalodon would need to eat about one-fiftieth of its weight (or 2400 lb) of food on average per day. From our knowledge of the food chain during Megalodon's existence, it is generally believed that this shark's diet consisted of whale meat.

Life is extremely sparse in the Marianas Trench so they wouldn't be found there. They would live where their prey lives.

Answer 6

if megalodon still existed,the marianas trench would be too dark for it,and there wouldn't be enough things for it to eat.if it still was alive(which is highly unlikely)it would most likely be living in a largely unexplored region of the ocean.hey!you got that from the book Meg!

Answer 7

yes