The infamous beast, The Meg, that terrorised divers in the blockbuster film of the same name was closer to a whale, research suggests.
Experts have said the prehistoric predator the Megaladon was a ‘sleeker’ creature than the one portrayed in the 2018 movie, where a beast akin to a great white shark wrought havoc in the ocean.
Using an innovative study approach, a team of scientists sought to better understand the biology of the animal that lived between 3.6 to 15 million years ago.
A new study published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica suggests the creature was around 80 feet long, around one quarter the size of the Statue of Liberty
It also weighed 94 tonnes, the rough equivalent of six double-decker buses.
Shark biologist Dr Phillip Sternes, of University of California, Riverside (UCR), said: ‘This study provides the most robust analysis yet of megalodon’s body size and shape.’
Dr Sternes explained experts previously studied the the size of the creature by measuring the creature’s tooth size and scaling based on the equivalent size of a great white shark. But this type of analysis has recently been called into question, the study said.
Comparisons are difficult due to the lack of a complete megalodon skeleton.
Instead, scientists looked at the possibility the creature had a different, more ‘slender shape’.
If that is the case, the megalodon is likely to have had a slow cruising speed of a few kilometres an hour with its body designed for more efficient swimming overall, but capable of sudden bursts of speed. This would have been a more efficient method of travel through the oceans due to the creature’s sheer overall size.
A modern day comparison, the study says, is the lemon shark known for its sleeker shape, gentle nature and for having an average length of around 10 feet.
Dr Sternes said: “That shape makes a lot more sense for moving efficiently through water.”
The animal’s young, meanwhile, could have been born at around 13 feet long, already over the average length of a lorry.
Dr Sternes said: ‘It is entirely possible that megalodon pups were already taking down marine mammals shortly after being born.’
He added: ‘This research not only refines our understanding of what megalodon looked like, but it also provides a framework for studying how size influences movement in marine animals.’
The team of experts has worked on studying the megalodon for a number of years.
Another paper published in January 2024, also in Palaeontologia Electronica, suggested experts were beginning to reconsider the beast’s shape.
That study highlighted that while the megalodon was fearsome for its strength and size, it would likely have had a longer digestive canal, meaning it had to hunt and eat far less than previously thought.
In the 2024 study, Dr Sternes put forward the suggestion that megalodon’s size was also its downfall as it lost out on prey to more agile swimmers.
He said: ‘I believe there were a combination of factors that led to the extinction, but one of them may have been the emergence of the great white shark, which was possibly more agile, making it an even better predator than the Megalodon.’
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