Giant shark (Otodus megalodon) Tooth, approximately... Lot 29

Giant shark (Otodus megalodon) Tooth, approximately 3.6-23 million years old, Indonesia Fossil 13x10.5 cm Provenance: market (Spain) Conservation status. Surface area: 85%. Conservation status. Support: 90% (root restoration, consolidation) Otodus megalodon (meaning "great tooth"), commonly known as megalodon, is an extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago, from the Miocene to the Pliocene. It was formerly thought to be a member of the family lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), but it has been reclassified into the extinct family Otodontidae, which diverged from the great white shark during the Lower Cretaceous. Although considered one of the largest and most powerful predators that ever lived, the megalodon is known only through fragmentary remains, and its appearance and maximum size are uncertain. Scientists' opinions differ on its appearance, whether more like a stocky version of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) or the bull shark (Carcharias taurus). The most recent estimate suggests a maximum length around 20.3 meters, weighing 103 tons. Their teeth were thick and strong, built to grab prey and break bones, and their large jaws could exert a bite force of between 108,500 and 182,200 newtons. Megalodon probably had an important impact on the structure of marine communities. The fossil record indicates that it had a cosmopolitan distribution. It probably targeted large prey such as whales, seals, and sea turtles. Juveniles inhabited warm coastal waters and fed on fish and small whales. Unlike the great white shark, which attacks prey from the soft underside, the megalodon probably used its strong jaws to break through the chest cavity and pierce the heart and lungs of its prey. The animal faced competition from whale-eating cetaceans, such as Livyatan and other macroraptoral sperm whales and perhaps smaller ancestral killer whales (Orcinus). Because the shark preferred warmer waters, it is thought that oceanic cooling associated with the onset of ice ages, along with lowering sea levels and the consequent loss of suitable breeding areas, may also have contributed to its decline. A reduction in whale diversity and a shift in their distribution toward polar regions may have reduced the megalodon's primary food source. The shark's extinction coincides with the trend toward gigantism in mysticetes. The fossil was excavated at limestone formations in the Tasikmalaya region of western Java, Indonesia.