Why Are Megalodon Teeth So Common?

A megalodon tooth being held by two hands

Almost every fossil ever found in relation to the megalodon is its teeth. Shark produce teeth throughout their lives and because of their eating habits. They lose a set of teeth every on a weekly basis and all their life they lose up to 40,000 teeth. Their teeth are the hardest part of the body. While our teeth are coated with calcium phosphate, shark’s skeletons are made of cartilage.

Predators

“There is also a megalodon fossil found in Peru that apparently has the braincase and all the teeth, with a small string of vertebrae, although I have yet to see high-quality images of this specimen,” says Emma. This extraordinary fossil helped scientists to create a better picture of megalodon.

Extinction Of A Mega Shark

Megalodon’s extinction started when Pliocene ended which was around 2.6 million years ago when the earth entered the new phase which was the global cooling. Even scientists have no idea about the last living megalodon but it is believed to have happened some 3.6 million years ago. There were other species too which were wiped from the face of the earth.

Other Extinction

As the earth’s temperature was plummeting, there was a large number of animals facing extinction.  These include animals such as turtles and sea birds. This dramatic event created dire consequences on the food chain at the time. The causal link between predators and other herbivores was hence disturbed.

Similarly, the megalodon species were also affected by the ‘cooling’. The inevitable changes which occurred in the megalodon’s surrounding disturbed its own predatory practices as their prey either did not survive the new waters or migrated to different places.

The Cooling Phase

A great white shark swimming near the surface

The cooling of the surroundings led to the extinction of the megalodon in numerous ways. As the sharks were adapted to warm tropical conditions and when the cooling of the earth started it led to change in their living conditions of which they weren’t prepared for as they were habitual of the warm waters. The animals on which they preyed upon died soon after the phase resulting in the starvation of these enormous sharks. And because of all the change in the surroundings, they started moving towards the shore and that was the point from where their extinction started. 

The Start Of The End

Megalodon started moving towards the shore and scientists believed that they even gave birth close to the shore. But when the cooling phase took over the shore their newborns were left unprotected. Unable to cope up with the change they had no other option but to give in to the climate change. The earth became cooler and the extinction of megalodon started.