Scientists dredge up vestige of chilling monster

This monster marine killing machine was so big it would make today's great white shark look positively friendly by comparison.


www.nzherald.co.nz...

non-fossilized Megaladon teeth had been found before, challenging the notion that they are extinct? Wow, a 17 meter shark (about 56 feet), no thanks!

still hotly debated though....

"Despite the general consensus among zoologists and paleontologists that C. megalodon is extinct, it has been suggested by several cryptozoologists and other researchers (e.g. Stead 1963; Clark 1968; Clostermann 1969; Perry 1972; Cartmell 1978; Goss 1987; Bright 1989; Corliss 1991; Shuker 1991, 1995, 1997) that this enormous shark may continue to exist in the deep-sea or another remote part of the ocean. These proponents of C. megalodon survival cite a small body of �evidence� to support their claim, including eyewitness accounts, unfossilized and recently fossilized C. megalodon teeth, and the discovery of the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) in 1976. (Other researchers, such as Ellis [1975, 1994], Ellis and McCosker [1991], and, to a lesser extent, Steel [1985], provide a level-headed, yet open-minded, review of the question of C. megalodon survival)"

[Edited on 22-5-2003 by Gazrok]

We thought the Ceolocanth had been extinct for more than 30 million years, yet has been caught alive off the coast of South Africa.

If one thought to be extinct fish has survived, others possibly could as well.

The difference is that the Ceolocanth is only about 4 feet long, and doesnt have the ability to eat entire sharks...

If I was scuba diving, and saw a shark that big coming at me I wouldnt have to worry about the pain of being eaten alive because I would instantly die of a heart attack.

Me three.. Though I wonder if a shark that size would even bother with humans as we are merely appetizers.

I'll bet Estragon sees those things eaten raw in china

XAOS

Originally posted by xaos
I'll bet Estragon sees those things eaten raw in china

XAOS

So what ? We can eat cows but we can't eat sharks ? that's it ?

Huuuum, a tasty shark steak....

A little shark on the side goes well with a rack of BBQ ribs! Hmmm BBQ Ribs, my mouth is watering, I love Southern food....

Sharks dont actually like the taste of humans, ever hear of a Great White (outside of Jaw's movies) eating a person? no, you always hear about them and seeing pictures of a single bite, because they bite us once because they think we are seals or something, and then spit us out because we taste really bad

No doubt the crap we eat

The coelocanth was what came immediately to my mind -I think we should have a picture of one on this forum: a compelling reminder that we don't know everything.
As for the sharks becoming dinner - I guess they would. The fins would fetch a fortune.
Ostentatious eating is a large part of Chinese "face" - catch a three-ton shark and eat the fin! Climb a two hundred foot sheer cliff to swallows' nests: ignore swallows and eggs, and take the dried spit they stick the nest to the cliff with!
Lovely people but their heads aren't right!

I guess most would agree it became extinct in the Pliocene (2-2.5 million years ago) but there a charming little site wiith some straightforward info here: www.elasmo-research.org...
Common-sense would suggest that we should be rather more broad-minded when it comes to the sea - to a very real extent it remains the biggest, and the least explored, continent.

Originally posted by Estragon
www.elasmo-research.org...

the guy doesn't bother explaining his reasons very well, for the most part he simply dismisses the idea. he actually uses the fact that it doesn't exist anymore against one of the common arguments for it being alive.

(paraphrasing) "we think it's alive because _______"
"no that's wrong, because it's not alive so that must be for other reasons" lol that's not a very good argument

Sharks dont actually like the taste of humans, ever hear of a Great White (outside of Jaw's movies) eating a person? no, you always hear about them and seeing pictures of a single bite, because they bite us once because they think we are seals or something, and then spit us out because we taste really bad

This is not true. Rogue sharks have been known to eat, not just bite humans. In fact, the real-life story that Jaws is loosely based on (a Peter Benchley novel if I remember correctly), details a historic killing spree (and eating spree) of such a rogue shark in the Jersey shores area during the early part of the last century.... When the shark was cauught, several human bones and parts were inside, in various states of digestion...

that's correct, my thinking has been faulty, it's Great Whites that dont like our taste, you're right though, other sharks (bulls and Hammerheads notably) have been known to actually people

hmm i dunno chance of surviving one of those big butt sharks is 50/50, look at the size of the mouth it could swallow you whole, as it swallows you use your knife to stab upwards into the roof of its mouth, you could probibly stab straight up into the brain killing it, after its death throws you could open the mouth of the shark and swim out. mind you that depends on how much you have left of your air supply.

Originally posted by seedy_sid
hmm i dunno chance of surviving one of those big butt sharks is 50/50, look at the size of the mouth it could swallow you whole, as it swallows you use your knife to stab upwards into the roof of its mouth, you could probibly stab straight up into the brain killing it, after its death throws you could open the mouth of the shark and swim out. mind you that depends on how much you have left of your air supply.

lol sounds like something out of that one movie...I think it was called Deep Blue Sea

Dude, the Megladon could not only swallow you whole. It could swallow you whole if you were sitting in a small sized family car.
We're talking about the perfect predator here.

I was shark mad when I was a kid and Megs have fascinated me since the day as a 6 year old when I first heard about them.

There is no doubt whatsoever that they existed. They are reckoned to have become extinct due to a change in the pattern of whale migration. But even today there are very many top marine biologists who believe that they are still out there.

I'm not convinced that they're not extinct. I realise that we know hardly anything about the ocean but I just can't believe that we would miss something like this animal.

I'd love to believe that the Meg was still around though. A 17 metre killing machine roaming of the coasts of our countries would be soooooooo cool!!!!