The extinct megalodon, or giant toothed shark, was nowhere near as fast as it appears on screen. The animal did not even come close to the speed of American swimming champion Michael Phelps. Scientists determined that it lacked the ribs needed to move faster and that, unlike fish, it was a warm-blooded animal.
Despite the fact that the creators of Jason Statham’s film The Meg portrayed the toothed shark on the movie screen as a gigantic creature that pursues its victims with lightning speed, in reality the former aquatic creature was not at all a fast swimmer.
Spanish holidaymakers fled from the sea in despair when they saw what had washed ashore
The huge animal appeared among the beachgoers just a few meters from the shore.
According to previous scientific estimates, megalodon traveled at a speed of 5 km / h in water
According to the latest research, the speed of this gigantic animal barely reached 2 km / h.
For comparison, swimming legend Michael Phelps reached speeds of up to 10 km/h at the peak of his career.
According to Kenshu Shimada, a professor at DePaul University in the United States
Megalodon was a “normal swimmer” sometimes swimming faster to catch prey.
The giant toothed shark lived in the oceans between 15 and 3.6 million years ago and is widely believed to have been one of the largest and most powerful predators in history. According to experts
The animal was very similar to the great white shark that still lives today, only it was more stocky, and could weigh up to 100 tons.
Examination of the remaining plasmoid scales revealed that it did not contain the ribs that fast-swimming sharks still have today. Scientists also determined that the extinct animal was, unlike fish, warm-blooded.
The surfers were waiting for the big wave when a terrifying monster swam among them
A great white shark swam eerily close to the surfers. Drone footage was captured on a California beach, where the huge specimen approached surfers. The appearance of the shark did not frighten the athletes waiting for the surf, and they were not attacked by a shark either.
source: dailymail.co.uk
The featured image is illustrative. Photo: MTI/EPA/LUSA/Jose Sena Goulao
