This year's Discovery Channel Shark Week began with a fictional film made to look like a documentary about the possibility a large prehistoric shark still roams the world's oceans. The Megalodon was the largest shark to ever prowl the sea. It went extinct two million years ago and is an ancestor of the modern shark.
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The Great White Shark is the creature we all fear. It stalks our dreams like it stalks its prey. Any time there is a shark attack on a human the Great White takes the blame, whether it is responsible or not.
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If these two creatures were to meet today, who would win? The answer can be determined by one factor, size. The Megalodon was so massive it could swallow a Great White shark whole.
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Like it's modern cousin the Great White, Megalodon had rows of razor sharp triangular shaped seriated teeth. Unlike the Great White a Megalodon tooth is bigger than a human hand.
A modern Great White shark can grow to a size between 15 and 20-feet long. The Great White can weigh more than 5,000 pounds and travel at speeds of over 15-MPH and has the ability to launch themselves out of the water when making a move on their prey.
When Megalodon was the king of the ocean it grew over 60 feet in length and could weigh more than 77 tons. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History a Megalodon could consume 2,500 pounds of food per day. Its meals included large whales and other fish.
The Great White has a similar diet, preying on marine mammals and fish, including other species of shark. The great White Shark is known for its massive jaws and its' ability to tear flesh from bone. The powerful jaws of a Megalodon makes the Great White look tame.
With a bite force capable of crushing bones with 11 tons of pressure the Megalodon would make a quick meal of a Great White shark.
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