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When did Carcharocles megalodon become extinct? A new analysis of the fossil record.
Journal article

When did Carcharocles megalodon become extinct? A new analysis of the fossil record.

  • Pimiento C Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama.
  • Clements CF Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, The University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • 2014-10-23
Published in:
  • PloS one. - 2014
Animals
Biological Evolution
Ecosystem
Extinction, Biological
Fossils
Paleontology
Sharks
English Carcharocles megalodon ("Megalodon") is the largest shark that ever lived. Based on its distribution, dental morphology, and associated fauna, it has been suggested that this species was a cosmopolitan apex predator that fed on marine mammals from the middle Miocene to the Pliocene (15.9-2.6 Ma). Prevailing theory suggests that the extinction of apex predators affects ecosystem dynamics. Accordingly, knowing the time of extinction of C. megalodon is a fundamental step towards understanding the effects of such an event in ancient communities. However, the time of extinction of this important species has never been quantitatively assessed. Here, we synthesize the most recent records of C. megalodon from the literature and scientific collections and infer the date of its extinction by making a novel use of the Optimal Linear Estimation (OLE) model. Our results suggest that C. megalodon went extinct around 2.6 Ma. Furthermore, when contrasting our results with known ecological and macroevolutionary trends in marine mammals, it became evident that the modern composition and function of modern gigantic filter-feeding whales was established after the extinction of C. megalodon. Consequently, the study of the time of extinction of C. megalodon provides the basis to improve our understanding of the responses of marine species to the removal of apex predators, presenting a deep-time perspective for the conservation of modern ecosystems.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/251772
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