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Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Joe Corsiglia, President Trump, Henry Heimuller, VP Pence, Pat Robertson, Debi Corsiglia’s dog, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Standard Disclaimer.
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Lack of food and high body temperature may have led to this “Giant Shark’s” demise
Megalodon
Have you ever wondered why the monster shark megalodon went extinct? Scientists have some answers, and the shark's high body temperature may have been a contributing factor to their demise. Megalodon was a mega-shark, an enormous, prehistoric super shark that still fuels nightmares and fascinates scientists, and others today. This massive fish could grow to up to 60 feet long, and it took down prey with a terrifying mouthful of teeth, each of which measured as long as 7 inches which is longer than a human hand. Fearsome as this giant predator was, it disappeared from the oceans about 2.6 million years ago. And new research looked to the body temperature of the megalodon to offer an explanation for what may have caused it to die out. Like some other sharks alive today, such as great white and mako sharks, megalodon is thought to have been able to thermoregulate, or adjust its body temperature in response to cooler or warmer water. This would have enabled it to hunt in a broader range of habitats than other sharks, according to new research. Scientists wondered if the megalodon's body temperature similar to that of modern sharks, To find out, scientists used geochemistry to examine rare carbon and oxygen isotopes in megalodon teeth and in teeth of modern sharks. (Isotopes are versions of molecules with different numbers of neutrons.) These isotopes form different bonds depending on the animal's temperature when teeth form. With this method, scientists could estimate what the ancient beast's average body temperature may have been and thereby find clues that might explain how megalodon's biology or habits doomed it to extinction. Their preliminary results suggested that megalodon was "quite warm" for a shark. Ancestors of today's makos and great white sharks that swam alongside megalodon millions of years ago likely had body temperatures of about 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. There was a huge difference between the smaller sharks body temperature and the super shark, While the megalodon may have been running a body temperature as high as 95 to 104 degrees F. which is the body temperature of whales. With such a high body temperature, megalodon must have had a super charged metabolism that required frequent eating; the super shark had to eat constantly to maintain the massive body. Then, the climate changed becoming warmer, and the megalodon's prey moved to cooler waters. Unable to adjust to cooler water the super shark had to stay in the warm waters and Food became scarce and competition from a new predator species such as killer whales may then have been the fatal combination that drove the megalodon to extinction. "Large climatic shifts combined with evolutionary limitations may provide the 'smoking gun' for the extinction of the largest shark species to ever roam the planet. This same scenario could happen again, as our climate warms and the oceans are getting warmer, may be the nail in the coffin for many other species of ocean dweller’s.
Tammy
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