The megalodon went extinct 3.6 million years ago, and is thought to be the largest shark that ever swam the Earth. But there's debate over what it looked like.

The megalodon went extinct 3.6 million years ago, and is thought to be the largest shark that ever swam the Earth. But the megalodon may not have been as big as once thought, some researchers suggest.

Scientifically known as Otodus megalodon, the Neogene-era shark is estimated to have reached lengths of 50 to 65 feet (15 to 20 meters) and once belonged to a lineage of sharks that evolved during ...

Megalodon may have been up to 80 feet long, but the colossal extinct shark was also probably thinner than scientists previously thought, according to a new study.

Megalodon may have been ‘even longer’ than we thought Think more lemon shark than great white. Andrew Paul Mar 9, 2025 7:01 PM EDT ...

For years, the megalodon has been imagined as a monstrous version of the great white shark. Depictions in movies and documentaries show a stocky, torpedo-shaped predator, built for speed and power ...

Largest shark that ever lived: Scientists unlock mystery about the megalodon The monster shark, depicted in the 2018 sci-fi horror film ‘The Meg,’ dominated the ocean 3.5 million years ago.

What scientists understand about the voracious feeding habits of the colossal megalodon could be up for some revision. The prehistoric predator that went extinct about 3.6 million years ago was ...

But when it did arrive on the scene, about 15 million to 20 million years ago, the megalodon must have been an incredible sight. A fully grown individual weighed about 50 metric tons – that’s ...

Cooper concluded that a megalodon would have been a stocky, powerful shark—measuring some 52 feet (16 meters) in length with a body mass of 67.86 tons—able to execute bursts of high speed to ...

Megalodon lived. Past tense. The largest shark ever, and arguably the largest predator, went extinct 2.6 million or more years ago. And it has stayed that way. But Hollywood sequel makers will be ...