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Prehistoric mega-shark raised its young in nurseries: study

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Eléonore Hughes, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/11/25/shark.jpg"/><figcaption>One of the world&#x27;s largest set of shark jaws comprised of about 180 fossil teeth from the prehistoric species, Carcharocles megalodon, which grew to the size of a school bus, is displayed at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino September 30, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. <em>Agence France-Presse</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>PARIS, France - The largest sharks ever to have roamed the oceans parked their young in shallow, warm-water nurseries where food was abundant and predators scarce until they could assume their title as kings and queens of the sea.</p><p>But as sea levels declined in a cooling world, the brutal mega-predator, Otodus megalodons, may have found fewer and fewer safe-haven coastal zones where its young could safely reach adulthood, researchers reported Wednesday in The Royal Society journal Biology Letters.</p><p>Indeed, the reliance of Megalodon on nurseries may have contributed to the end of their 20-million-year reign, according to the research.</p><p>Otodus megalodon -- sometimes classified as a Carcharocles megalodon -- took 25 years to become an adult -- &quot;an extremely delayed sexual maturity&quot;, the authors said in the research paper.</p><p>But once it was fully grown, the shark could reach up to 18 meters, three times the size of the largest great white shark, made famous by the 1975 hit-movie Jaws.</p><p>As an apex predator, and up until its extinction around three million years ago, the adult megalodon had no rivals among other ocean hunters and feasted on smaller sharks and even whales. </p><p>But its young were vulnerable to attacks by other predators, often other razor-toothed sharks.</p><p>Nurseries on shallow continental shelves with extensive smaller fish for food and few competing predators gave them the ideal space to reach their awesome size.</p><p>&quot;Our results reveal, for the first time, that nursery areas were commonly used by the O. megalodon over large temporal and spatial scales,&quot; said the authors.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/07/03/20/an-extinct-sharks-fossil-tooth-as-big-as-a-palm-is-found-in-bohol">An extinct shark’s fossil tooth as big as a palm is found in Bohol</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;PERFECT PLACE TO GROW&#x27;</strong></div><p>The research team discovered a nursery zone off the eastern coast of Spain in Tarragona Province after visiting a museum and observing a collection of megalodon teeth.</p><p>&quot;Many of them were quite small for such a large animal,&quot; the authors from British University of Bristol, Carlos Martinez-Perez and Humberto Ferron, told AFP.</p><p>Judging by the size of the teeth, they surmised the area had once been home to young megalodons.</p><p>The Spanish nursery could be described as &quot;a perfect place to grow&quot;, the authors said.</p><p>It would have been a &quot;shallow bay area of warm waters, connected to the sea and with extensive coral reefs and plenty of invertebrates, fish species, marine mammals and other sharks and rays&quot;. </p><p>The researchers analyzed eight other sets of shark teeth which had previously been gathered, spread across the United States, Peru, Panama and Chile. </p><p>They came to the conclusion in four of them -- two in the United States and two in Panama -- had belonged to younger sharks. </p><p>As a result, the authors suggest these four areas where the teeth were found might also have been nurseries. </p><p>&quot;The remaining four formations ... demonstrate size-class structures typical of populations dominated by adults, suggesting these regions might correspond to feeding or mating areas,&quot; the study said.</p><p>Sharks continuously shed their teeth throughout their lifetime, and nurseries are zones with a high abundance of sharks.</p><p>&quot;As a consequence, huge numbers of teeth can be shed, increasing the chances of subsequent fossil discoveries,&quot; the authors said.</p><p>Megalodons enjoyed the warm and temperate waters of the Miocene period which extended from about five million to 23 million years ago.</p><p>But the cooler Pliocene period suited them far less. </p><p>As their prey adapted and headed towards colder waters, the megalodon stayed where the oceans remained warm. </p><p>The remaining food was also favoured by great white sharks, increasing competition with the smaller, but more agile, predator.</p><p>The vast reduction of shallow water nurseries due to sea-level losses -- caused by a cooler climate -- may also have contributed to the megalodon&#x27;s eventual extinction.</p><div><strong>ech/mh/pvh</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>FROM OUR ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ND3P_0by9Cc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>PARIS, France - The largest sharks ever to have roamed the oceans parked their young in shallow, warm-water nurseries where food was abundant and predators scarce until they could assume their title as kings and queens of the sea.</p>

PARIS, France - The largest sharks ever to have roamed the oceans parked their young in shallow, warm-water nurseries where food was abundant and predators scarce until they could assume their title as kings and queens of the sea.

Prehistoric mega-shark raised its young in nurseries: study

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Prehistoric mega-shark raised its young in nurseries: study

Eléonore Hughes,

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 25, 2020 11:15 AM PHT

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Otodus megalodons

shark

Megalodon

mega-shark

prehistoric

apex predator

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