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Most people know Megalodon for the first time, basically from Li Bingbing's movie Meg. Based on the novel of the same name by American writer Steve Alten, the film tells the story of the prehistoric behemoth Megalodon's unexpected escape from the deep sea and the human efforts to solve this disaster. Through movies, people usually regard Megalodon as a monster similar to Godzilla. In fact, Megalodon is not an imaginary science fiction monster, but a real prehistoric shark. And since the Permian, sharks have been competing with other species, constantly evolving, and even older than dinosaurs. But now the number is decreasing year by year, and it is gradually killed by human beings.

? Here are some typical sharks for you to know the shark representatives of various geological ages ~

The most primitive shark, living in Permian, Triassic and Jurassic, can reach 15 meters in length. There are many competitors for paralith sharks: there were huge nautilus in Permian, which also made paralith sharks evolve strange tooth structures. Their teeth are like a saw, which can cut open crustaceans such as ammonites and nautilus; During the Triassic period, the accessory stone shark had to face the most typical marine beast at that time-ichthyosaur. There are many kinds of ichthyosaurs, ranging from New Zealand ichthyosaurs with a body length of more than 20 meters to Himalayan ichthyosaurs with a body length of 16 meters. In Jurassic, Shanglong began to rise, and 9-meter-long Feng Shanglong and 12-meter Crosaurus became strong opponents of sharks.

Paratrochanteric shark of femur

It is 8- 10 meter long and active in the early Cretaceous. With the decline of Shanglong, sharks became the absolute overlord in the ocean during this period. At that time, black dragon, which evolved from coastal lizards, was still weak, so it was often eaten by sharks. In the middle and late Cretaceous, black dragon began to become bigger and bigger. Typical examples are the sea dragon with a body length of13m, Hoffman black dragon with a body length exceeding18m, and the saturated odontosaurus with a body length of14m. Due to the disparity in size, the chalky spiny shark is gradually at a disadvantage.

Chalk shark =

Living in Eocene and Oligocene, it is about12m long. In Eocene, black dragon became extinct, while sharks survived tenaciously. However, during this period, whales began to evolve from bucky whales and stray whales to the ocean, and finally a mechanical toothed whale (or king dragon whale) with a length of 18 meters appeared. For the first time, whales appeared on the historical stage as strong competitors of sharks. The megalodon swims like a giant eel. They will prey on fish, smaller speartoothed whales and even land animals. Chubut intends to eat human sharks, mainly small whales, turtles and so on. In the middle and late Eocene, there was great competition between them.

Chubut is going to eat human sharks =

It lives in Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene, and is more than17m long. Megalodon is the largest shark in history, and it is also the marine life that paleontologists pay most attention to in recent years. But it's not as invincible as the movie. It also has competitors, that is, the strongest and largest carnivorous whale in history, the Melville whale with a length of 16 meters. The only skull fossil of Melville whale was unearthed in Peru, and there are few existing fossils. However, a 40 cm banana whale tooth was unearthed in 20 13, which means that the maximum hair length of this whale is likely to exceed 16 meters. In comparison, Megalodon is longer, but Melville whale is heavier. Megalodon sharks are faster, but Melville whales have higher IQ. Two creatures that can completely occupy one of the best hegemonic positions in marine history are helpless but in the same era.

Megalodon

Living in the Pleistocene, the body length can reach 6 meters. The only competitor is 8-9 meters long killer whales. Black whales are better than great white sharks in IQ, body shape and teamwork, and great white sharks are basically at a disadvantage. According to some data, killer whales even take pleasure in hunting great white sharks.

Great white shark

? Whether it is nautilus, ichthyosaur, pliosaur, black dragon, mechanical toothed whale, Melville whale and killer whale, in the long ocean evolution history of the earth, sharks have stubbornly faced all challenges, gradually evolved and constantly adapted to the new environment. This is a respectable creature, and their struggle course can be called "shark spirit". However, with the appearance of human beings, marine pollution, and endless "shark fin feast", the number of various sharks is becoming less and less, so they have embarked on the road of unnatural extinction. It has become a top priority to protect sharks and let this ancient ocean overlord continue to thrive.

Original link: "This giant creature older than dinosaurs is now being hunted."

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