Don't be fooled! Revealing the myths that masqueraded as truths!

Currently, at some earlier stages of research, scientists reconstructed the Megalodon, looking like a more enormous and slightly more dangerous version of a great white shark movies. Then, following suit, they added a couple of details on their own, and voilà, we've got a marine giant that could grow up to 90 feet long. Well, hold on, hold on, Megalodons were usually between 50 and 55 feet, sometimes growing up to 60 feet. For comparison, a bowling lane is 60 feet long, a school bus is around 45 feet, and an average person is 5 feet 10 inches tall. So, yeah, not bad, Megalodon, but still not 90 feet.

Its weight was around 50 to 60 tons, which is something like 10 adult Elephants or even a Boeing 737. That's just their females, though; the ladies were almost twice as big as the males. Another movie versus reality thing: the Megalodon had nothing to do with a great white shark. The closest they could be is cousins because Megalodon, in fact, is the Last Descendant of a completely different lineage of sharks. Plus, its kind is around three times bigger than an average great white. It has a shorter nose and a much flatter jaw that almost looks like it's squashed. Also, Meg's pectoral fins are longer than those of the great white sharks.

Ancient predators ate a lot, so they needed something to support their weight. They both had an excellent sense of smell, though, so even in prehistoric times, it wasn't a good idea to go swimming with a chunk of raw meat in hand, and it certainly isn't safe now. Whether the Meg's hiding somewhere in the depths, which some still believe is true, or it's gone forever, younger cousins will be there, waiting. Also, both of them like to go after big marine mammals, so they would certainly have things to do together. That is until the Meg got moody and accidentally ate its friend, and you never know; these guys had a different hunting style.

Great whites prefer to dive straight toward their prey and find the softest spots, like exposed legs or underbelly. Megalodon aimed for the fins and tail because of its almost 10-foot jaws, and what's considered to be the strongest bite ever. Its teeth could pierce almost anything; sometimes, an entire tooth would be found embedded in the bone of some bigger animal, such as a whale. Without the main parts they used for swimming, poor sea animals were then helpless and unable to escape. Yet, whales were just a smaller part of the Megalodon's diet. Seals, sea cows, squids, dolphins, other sharks, the good old Meg probably wouldn't say no to some random school of smaller fish swimming into its mouth either. Nothing better than a good snack after a big tasty dinner. Even those giant turtles weren't safe within their thick shells; the Meg probably took those as a dare or challenge on a daily basis.

Such a diverse diet, and in big amounts. Megalodon would eat about 2500 pounds of food every day. No wonder it dominated the ocean. Almost 300 teeth in five rows, and we're talking about sharp chompers that could grow up to seven inches long. Even its name stands for giant tooth. Hey, I'm thinking maybe it had a cousin "orthodontia," which means either crooked teeth or deep pockets.

Still, Megalodon would change thousands of teeth over a lifetime since Meg's teeth weren't that strong; they would often fall out. Then it would get new ones within one to two days, so it could continue its hunting sessions without any serious interruptions. The same thing happens with modern sharks as well; new teeth replace damaged or worn-out ones. Teeth falling out were the only thing that helped scientists do any research on the Megalodon at all; they found them all around the world. Yup, megalodons were quite some travelers; they lived in all oceans, and their fossils were found on all continents except Antarctica. What to call them since their skeletons were not made of bone but of cartilage. Teeth are the only evidence they've ever even existed; they gave scientists insight into a lot of things, including size. Even with modern sharks, scientists determined their size by the dimensions of only one tooth and do the same with the Meg.

Megalodon had the strongest bite of all living creatures on Earth. It would definitely be fun to see the clash between the Meg and say, T-Rex. Sadly, they missed their chance to meet and establish some long-term friendship since dinosaurs went extinct over 60 million years ago. Meg, on the other hand, terrified all the inhabitants of the seas and oceans from 23 to 2.5 million years ago. Where could Megalodon live these days? Well, it would probably love places where modern sharks go, such as Florida, Hawaii, Brazil, South Africa, or some other tropical paradise. Hmm, when you think about it, it's not bad at all, Meg. Take me with you!

Megalodon itself didn't have any serious competition or a natural enemy, but its infants were too weak to defend themselves. That's why the apex predator had to choose warm shallow waters with no strong currents to raise its babies. Those, by the way, were around six and a half feet long, not quite tiny themselves. Scientists actually found some of their juvenile's teeth, so it seems like part of their nursery areas was the coast of Panama, and that's 10 million years old.

Okay, time to meet with one of Megalodon's potential rivals, the mighty sperm whale, 45 to 60 feet long. The size sure makes it quite an adversary. Modern sperm whales don't have such big teeth, but their ancestors, which lived around 13 million years ago, were well packed. The largest tooth found was five inches wide and 14 inches long. That's something like the biggest soda bottle out there. That would make an interesting combat here.

We're talking about this giant marine predator, but this is not the only intriguing ancient animal that wandered the oceans. In fact, sharks are some of the oldest creatures on our planet, more ancient than insects, mammals, dinosaurs, even trees. Mass extinction events wiped out most life on Earth, giant asteroids fell on its surface, continents split up, and so many other things happened, but sharks were there, alive and persevering. Apparently, with no contact with the outside world, just chilling and doing their thing.

The spiny shark was actually one of the first animals with a jaw, not that it could do much with that jaw since it was only around 12 inches long, eh? Meg wouldn't even bother with this one, and it wasn't even a real shark; it just looked like one. If you ever wondered how a combination of eel and shark would look like, well, here it is. Eel-shark preferred fresh water, was up to three feet long, and went extinct around 200 million years ago. Since dinosaurs appeared around 230 million years ago, the eel-shark was probably there to give them a warm welcome, prepare a buffet, but the dinosaurs had unfortunately mistaken it for dessert. Now, this predator would get some real screams on a nice sandy beach during spring break if it was still alive.