The
Megalodon (pronounced /ˡmɛ.gə.ləˌdɒn/ or
MEG-a-la-don; meaning "big tooth" or in Greek as μέγας 'οδόντος) was a giant shark that lived in prehistoric times, between about 18 million to 1.5 million years ago and was the apex predator of its time. It is the largest carnivorous fish known to have existed and quite possibly the largest shark to have ever lived. This species is a member of the lamnidae family but its classification is in dispute and a new genus has been proposed. Fossil
evidence has revealed that megalodon fed upon large animals, including the early whales.
Some cryptozoologists argue that this shark might still be alive today, probably living in deep waters, and often cite the examples of
Coelacanth and megamouth shark to
support their claims. However, such beliefs have earned no credibility in the scientific main stream. Megalodon was about 3 times the size of a great white shark living today and enough power to bite a small ship in 2 pieces.
Shared by Mythical_Geek. Thank you so much for this information.
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UPDATE!!!! I do not wish to
delete what has already been said, just update said information
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To have a better understanding of the Megalodon. This creature could reach the length of five
school buses in a row from tip to end. The Megalodon could go through the ocean with ease as it only had one predator, others of its kind. No one truly knows if the shark gave birth to live young or laid eggs. A predator such as this, no one really knows. This shark could live to be around a hundred years, some scientists have said. But others say no more then about twenty years. This shark was so massive that it could feed on a sperm whale without much force. Though its teeth have only been found to be around a foot or so long and around five to seven inches wide, however larger teeth are being found. Some scientists are stating the teeth we find that are only a foot or so long are mere baby or juvenile teeth. That the adult teeth could in fact be much bigger.
That would range an adult Megalodon to be much longer than five
school buses at full length from tip to end. And it could have easily made a joke of eating a half of a whale at any given time. The shark itself could have in fact gone into a "slumber" state, while unheard of this is not uncommon. The black tip shark today will actually lay on the ocean floor and stay there motionless "sleeping". It's heart rate slows and it "rests". That could have been an adaptation from this giant shark, but because about 70 percent of the ocean is still undiscovered no one truly knows if such a shark could exist. While it is easy to say such a shark can not survive now a days one would have to look at its surrounds and really wonder if it is actually impossible for such a shark to live after all of these years. It would have plenty of food, plenty of
shelter. No predators other than those of its own kind, just as it had it years ago.
Such a shark however does not need to come to the surface of the ocean to catch it's food. Whales such as the sperm whale and other species are actually capable of diving to such depths that the pressure alone would not only kill you but it would crush the life out of you. The recorded depth of a sperm whale dive has never been found. These creatures can do to a whole new world underwater and stay there for up to an hour at each dive. This would make it extremely possible for such a creature to never be seen. This shark could go undetected for years and never be noticed. It makes this shark extremely unique in that matter. This shark could be living right in our oceans and we would never think twice of such a thing. This creature does not need to present itself to make itself known. It does not need to destroy boats or eat humans to show itself. This creature is happy and capable of living at depths that never see day light. And it just so happens that one of its type of prey can survive that depth as well. Before you start thinking such a creature could not exist you need to look at basic facts, food, shelter, predators. If it has an abundance of food, quite a bit of shelter and no predators, such a creature very well could exist.
The creature fits both in Cryptozoology and Mythical Tales.
African tribes and a few other tribes from around the globe often call this creature Black Shark, or the Death Shark (fish). This creature was feared and respected highly between those who lived in tribes and those who actually ventured out into the ocean.
It is often said that if you do anything to displease the ocean or harm it that the Black Shark would come after you and seek revenge for the ocean and or its creatures. This shark is referred too as the guardian or protector of the sea. There was a tale told years ago of some fishermen who harmed a creature, whale I believe.
Young fishermen had stopped to dock in an area of tribe people, when they were asked what they were doing the fishermen explained that they were off to go whaling. The tribes people warned the fishermen not to mess with creatures in the ocean for the Death Shark would come for them. The fishermen laughed and shook the old tale off thinking the tribes people were going nuts with their own tales. The fishermen set off and caught whales, killing a few and severally hurting another one. They could not pull up the whale to the side of the ship because where the harpoon had hooked in was started to tear away. Making it dangerous for the fishermen to pull the whale up. Finally, after a few tries of freeing the animal nothing worked. They did not want to lose the line and risk their harpoon being lost so they decided to let the whale rest for a little. They released the whale into the water and allowed it to rest, the next morning the whale was gone, no blood in sight. The fishermen thought they got a done deal, that the whale had been freed of the harpoon. They started pulling the harpoon up to find that the whale was still attached to it. One of the fishermen decided to cut the line but the captain stopped him. The captain said they would drag the whale back and kill it ashore. They started dragging and the whale started crying to its pod. The crew felt a quick jerk as one of the fishermen saw the line dangling. He reeled it up only to find the harpoon and the whale were both swimming away. The man slightly worried as to what cut the line continued to tell the captain. The captain drove the ship close into shore only to have the ship start leaking. One man went down and found a giant hole in the bottom, wondering what they hit he went and told the captain. As they continued the ship was taking water in rather quickly. Someone noticed a fin swimming in circles around the ship. When the fin vanished beneath the waves the ship would take a hard hit. With each hit the ship became more and more destroyed. Finally one man who went slightly under with the ship got terrified. He came back up and started swimming to shore, when the others caught up with him they asked him what was wrong. He replied, there is a shark coming for us. The fishermen knew of the dangers so they continued swimming to reach the shore. One by one the men were taken, the one man who had seen it did not look back. When he finally got close to shore he looked back. He now able to walk on the ocean floor until he reached land, took a break. When he looked back, he saw it, a giant fin sticking out of the water. The shark had come almost all of the way to shore with him. The man more terrified now started swim running to get to shore. The shark retreated not wanting to go further. When the tribe people found him he was telling them that they were right. They explained who and what the shark was, from that day on the man lived in the tribe with the very people who warned him not to go into the water. And from that day on the story got to other tribal people.
This shark is not only a Legend, a Myth, but also a very real and Cryptozoological animal.
For those who do not know what Cryptozoology means, the word means to study "hidden or unseen" animals.