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3w ago

Zinc Analysis Reveals Megalodon’s Broad, Opportunistic Diet

Researchers used zinc isotope ratios in fossil teeth to reconstruct meal choices across Early Miocene marine ecosystems

Jeremy McCormack with a fossilized megalodon tooth (Otodus megalodon).
Image
McCormack works at the mass spectrometer, which is used to determine the zinc isotope ratio. This ratio provides information about the diet of Otodus megalodon.
A stock image shows a 3D illustration of the Otodus Megalodon, the largest predatory fish that has ever existed.

Overview

  • Zinc-66 to zinc-64 ratios in Otodus megalodon teeth show it fed at the top of the food chain yet consumed both marine mammals and large fish.
  • Comparisons of fossils from Sigmaringen and Passau indicate regional prey shifts, with Passau specimens relying more on lower-trophic-level animals.
  • Estimates confirm megalodon needed about 100,000 kilocalories daily to support its up to 24-meter length.
  • The study overturns the view of megalodon as a whale specialist by portraying it as a flexible generalist predator.
  • Earlier work suggests megalodon’s extinction around 3.6 million years ago was influenced by competition from emerging great white sharks.