Fossil evidence reveals Megalodon’s deadly attack on whales

KOMPA.com – About 15 million years ago in the warm waters of present-day southern Maryland, in the United States, the sea suddenly became violently turbulent.

That ripple of the sea surface apparently happened because Hello megalodon (Otodus megalodon) the size of a five-story building was attacking a whale.

But the whale didn’t seem to give up, even though it had been pinched by the megalodon’s teeth. In an attempt to break free, the attack caused the whale’s back to bend and suffer a severe compression fracture.

Read also: The study reveals that the megalodon was able to swallow an 8-meter whale whole

The image above is a scenario created by scientists after examining two fractured whale bones and a megalodon tooth.

The fossil, as quoted by Live scienceSunday (11/9/2022) found close together on Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs, a site dating back to the Miocene era (23 million to 5.3 million years ago).

Researchers describe whale injuries and what may have caused them in a new study, published online Aug.25 in the journal Electronic paleontology.

The remains of what may have been a 4-meter-long whale that lived about 15 million years ago were originally discovered by Mike Ellwood, a volunteer and fossil collector at the Calvert Marine Museum.

However, from the specimens, the researchers were unable to determine whether the specimens were toothed whales, spinning whales, or even large dolphins.

“Fossils with wounds like the ones we find at Calvert Cliffs are very rare. The injuries were so bad, so evidently from severe trauma, that I wanted to know the background,” said Stephen J. Godfrey, curator of paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum. in Maryland and lead author of the studies.

To find out, Godfrey then performed a scan of the damaged spine.

The scans show a compression fracture, a type of fracture in which the spine is squeezed, the pattern of which is so distinctive that it is instantly recognizable.

“Any radiologist would see this and recognize the pathology,” Godfrey says.

Read also: The sperm whale nose becomes the megalodon shark’s favorite snack while it is still alive

The scientists also found that the membrane surrounding the bone, known as the periosteum, produced new bone after the injury.

Regardless of whether the periosteal bone formed to repair a wound, as is often the case in humans, or as a result of infection or arthritis, the growth of new bone after injury suggests that whales live for several weeks after the fracture.

In addition to the megalodon attack, other factors can actually cause the bones to break in whales.

Even an extinct marine megafauna other than the megalodon, such as the Miocene white shark or the macroraptorial sperm whale (Physeteroidea) could do something similarly fatal to the megalodon.

Additionally, whales that ingest poisonous seaweed and experience seizures can also essentially break their backs.

But Godfrey thought the megalodon attack was the most plausible explanation. The reason, the trauma in a spine really penetrates.

“In terms of power this is extraordinary,” Godfrey said.

Read also: Where do Megalodon sharks live?

And then there is the megalodon tooth found next to the spine.

Closer examination of the tooth revealed that the tip was fractured, probably after hitting something like a bone.

“We don’t know the full range of predatory techniques that megalodons could have used, but it’s possible that, like modern sharks, they ambushed their prey from below,” says Godfrey.

But, of course, he didn’t rule out alternative explanations that might be revealed in further research.

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