Scientists rediscover lost Megalodon fossils—and reveal a 79-foot giant
Scientists have rediscovered long-lost Megalodon vertebrae in a museum collection, allowing for a new study on the giant shark's size and growth. The findings confirm that the species could reach lengths exceeding 79 feet.
Why it matters
This discovery provides rare, concrete data on one of history's largest predators, correcting previous size estimates and improving our understanding of prehistoric marine life.
Museums are supposed to be havens for the collective cultural and scientific heritage of the planet, but specimens sometimes go missing.
Happily, they can also be rediscovered, as a new study shows, with the vertebrae of the legendary predatory shark known to the world under its old name of Megalodon (now properly Otodus megalodon ) turning up on a museum shelf decades after they were seemingly lost.
The new paper takes another look at the size and growth of this giant shark that lived between 15 and 3.5 million years ago . The study confirms previous estimates that these animals might have been longer than 24 meters (79 feet). To put that in context, even the most unnaturally exaggerated sharks in the Jaws franchise topped out at 10.5 meters (34 feet). These were seriously big fish.
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