{"id":80396,"date":"2024-11-11T15:43:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T15:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2"},"modified":"2024-11-11T16:15:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T16:15:58","slug":"scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Uncover Likely Cause of Megalodon’s Extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>A group of scientists has brought forth a hypothesis that might explain why Otodus megalodon, a massive shark species commonly known as megalodon, that thrived in Earth\u2019s oceans millions of years ago, went extinct.<\/p>\n

Researchers have suggested that megalodon sharks had a higher body temperature than other sharks, which might explain their extinction.<\/p>\n

The findings come in a study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal and are based on an analysis of fossilized remains of megalodon teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found that O. megalodon had body temperatures significantly elevated compared to other sharks, consistent with it having a degree of internal heat production as modern warm-blooded (endothermic) animals do,\u201d Robert Eagle, professor of marine science and geobiology at UCLA and one of the authors of the study, told a US media outlet in an email.<\/p>\n

The researchers thus postulate that megalodon, with its considerable size and regional endothermy, not to mention the shark\u2019s \u201ctop trophic-level diet,\u201d likely had to face \u201chigh bioenergetic demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, this \u201cprecarious energetic balance,\u201d as the team puts it, likely became imperiled \u201cwhen productive coastal shelf habitats diminished and there were accompanying shifts in prey landscapes due to Pliocene sea-level changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply put, the high food intake necessitated by megalodon\u2019s metabolism made these gigantic apex predators vulnerable to changes in populations of the prey large enough to sustain them \u2013 caused, for example, by climate change – which likely contributed to these sharks\u2019 eventual extinction about 3.6 million years ago.<\/p>\n

The team also postulated that their findings help showcase how \u201cmarine apex predators such as O. megalodon were not immune to the effects of climate change, highlighting the need for conservation efforts to protect modern shark species, including the great white shark.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. A group of scientists has brought forth a hypothesis that might explain why Otodus megalodon, a massive shark species commonly known as megalodon, that thrived in Earth\u2019s oceans millions of years ago, went extinct. Researchers have suggested that megalodon sharks had a higher body temperature than other sharks, which might explain their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":80395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-80396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nScientists Uncover Likely Cause of Megalodon's Extinction - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A group of scientists has brought forth a hypothesis that might explain why Otodus megalodon, a massive shark species co ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientists Uncover Likely Cause of Megalodon's Extinction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A group of scientists has brought forth a hypothesis that might explain why Otodus megalodon, a massive shark species co ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-11T15:43:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-11T16:15:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/sm_1731329053.336539.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Scientists Uncover Likely Cause of Megalodon’s Extinction\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-11T15:43:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-11T16:15:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/sm_1731329053.336539.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/scientists-uncover-likely-cause-of-megalodons-extinction-2\",\"name\":\"Scientists Uncover Likely Cause of Megalodon's Extinction - 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