Prehistoric shark

Megalodon

This is Megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark that once swam through warm seas around the world.

Look at its streamlined body and rows of teeth. As its tail swishes, does it look like a giant submarine?

Meet this animal

When it lived: Early Miocene to Early Pliocene (about 23 million to 3.6 million years ago)
Fossil discovery regions: Marine deposits around the world
Size: 15–18 metres
Diet: Meat-eater
Classification: Prehistoric shark

Megalodon was an extinct lamniform shark, not a dinosaur or marine reptile. Shark skeletons are mostly cartilage and rarely fossilise as complete bodies, so scientists estimate its length, shape and appearance from teeth, a small number of vertebrae and living relatives. This model should not be treated as an exact scientific portrait.

Scientific sources

Reconstruction and uncertainty

The 15–18 metre range is a cautious estimate for large individuals, not a claim that every adult reached this size.
Recent research has proposed a hypothetical maximum of about 24.3 metres, but this depends on several assumptions about body proportions, so it is not used in the child-facing summary.
No complete fossil preserves the body proportions, dorsal-fin shape or colour; Megalodon should not simply be pictured as an enlarged great white shark.
The youngest reliable fossil records currently recognised are about 3.6 million years old.

Meet this animal

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