What did megalodon, the most massive shark that ever lived, look like? Scientists have no idea, a new study finds.
Despite many depictions of the now-extinct shark, including the one in the 2018 sci-fi action movie "The Meg," nobody alive today has a clue about the proportions of megalodon's head, fins and body shape.
Based on its jumbo-size teeth, megalodon (Otodus megalodon) likely reached lengths of at least 49 feet (15 meters) and as much as 65 feet (20 m), making it a colossal beast compared with modern great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) that reach lengths of 20 feet (6 m). "So, it was definitely a big, big shark with a lot of big teeth," but not much else is known beyond that, study lead researcher Phillip Sternes, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at the University of California, Riverside, told Live Science in an email.
