What do you think?
Rate this book
The Megalodon: The History and Legacy of the World’s Largest Prehistoric Predator
The current view of science is that Earth is around 4.6 billion years old. The first four billion years of its development are known as the Precambrian period. For the first billion years or so, there was no life on Earth, and then the first single-celled life-forms, early bacteria and algae, began to emerge. It’s unknown where they came from or even if they originated on this planet at all, but this gradual development continued until suddenly (in relative geological terms), more complex forms of life began to emerge.
Beginning in the Triassic but especially in the Jurassic period, reptiles came to dominate the oceans, the land and even the skies. There has never been anything else quite like this period in terms of the success of a particular type of creature. For almost 200 million years, reptiles were the only significant creatures on Earth. They were so successful and so diverse that they evolved to take advantage of every available habitat, and no other type of large creature had a chance to develop.
The seas, of course, were entirely different, and since water covers so much of the planet and not all of it has been explored, the world’s oceans and the creatures that live in the water continue to fascinate people today. This is especially true of sharks, arguably the most famous predators in the world. But while certain species like great white sharks still inspire awe and fear in people, they pales in comparison to one of their distant relatives, the megalodon, which may have been the largest predator that ever lived.
As scary as the shark in Jaws is, the extinct megalodon had teeth three times the length of those found within the jaws of a great white shark, so a human would only have been a small snack. In fact, the megalodon was capable of swallowing a small car. Known to scientists as Otodus megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon (otodus meaning “tooth shaped like an ear”; carcharocles meaning “well known for jaggedness”; and megalodon meaning “big tooth”), this predator lived approximately 23–3.6 million years ago), from the early Miocene Epoch to the early Pliocene Epoch. The genus name Otodus and the family name Otodontidae are now the most commonly used, but scientific literature remains full of the older designation, and many of the shark experts regard the new family designation as flawed.
For many years, megalodon was thought to be more closely related to the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), and though both are still part of the order Lamniformes, the two species now reside in different Lamnidae and Otodontidae (megalodon). Either way, while great white sharks can reach sizes of 20 feet long and nearly 2.5 tons in weight, the average megalodon was twice as big, and some of them may have been about three times as big. The sheer size allowed it to target prey as big as whales, and the massive jaw allowed it to simply tear through any kind of body with no regard for the prey’s most vulnerable spots.
While all of that seems to be beyond dispute, almost everything else about the history of the megalodon is up for debate, from its origins to its extinction. The The History and Legacy of the World’s Largest Prehistoric Predator covers that expansive history in detail, from what is known to what remains most mysterious.
Beginning in the Triassic but especially in the Jurassic period, reptiles came to dominate the oceans, the land and even the skies. There has never been anything else quite like this period in terms of the success of a particular type of creature. For almost 200 million years, reptiles were the only significant creatures on Earth. They were so successful and so diverse that they evolved to take advantage of every available habitat, and no other type of large creature had a chance to develop.
The seas, of course, were entirely different, and since water covers so much of the planet and not all of it has been explored, the world’s oceans and the creatures that live in the water continue to fascinate people today. This is especially true of sharks, arguably the most famous predators in the world. But while certain species like great white sharks still inspire awe and fear in people, they pales in comparison to one of their distant relatives, the megalodon, which may have been the largest predator that ever lived.
As scary as the shark in Jaws is, the extinct megalodon had teeth three times the length of those found within the jaws of a great white shark, so a human would only have been a small snack. In fact, the megalodon was capable of swallowing a small car. Known to scientists as Otodus megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon (otodus meaning “tooth shaped like an ear”; carcharocles meaning “well known for jaggedness”; and megalodon meaning “big tooth”), this predator lived approximately 23–3.6 million years ago), from the early Miocene Epoch to the early Pliocene Epoch. The genus name Otodus and the family name Otodontidae are now the most commonly used, but scientific literature remains full of the older designation, and many of the shark experts regard the new family designation as flawed.
For many years, megalodon was thought to be more closely related to the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), and though both are still part of the order Lamniformes, the two species now reside in different Lamnidae and Otodontidae (megalodon). Either way, while great white sharks can reach sizes of 20 feet long and nearly 2.5 tons in weight, the average megalodon was twice as big, and some of them may have been about three times as big. The sheer size allowed it to target prey as big as whales, and the massive jaw allowed it to simply tear through any kind of body with no regard for the prey’s most vulnerable spots.
While all of that seems to be beyond dispute, almost everything else about the history of the megalodon is up for debate, from its origins to its extinction. The The History and Legacy of the World’s Largest Prehistoric Predator covers that expansive history in detail, from what is known to what remains most mysterious.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2024
About the author
Charles River Editors
5,630 books290 followersCharles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2025
For a book about Megalodon there wasn’t a whole lot of info about megs or sharks in general. The book spends a lot of time talking about the weather and how we break up and classify the different eras of Earth’s history. It was also very smarmy and opinionated for a scientific book, repetitive, and full of glaring typos. I suppose it might be a ok jumping off place for a deeper look into the meg as it does list sources but there are better books out there. And please don’t pay for this book. If you simply must read it wait until it is offered for free.
June 9, 2024
The megalodon was a giant, a colossal creature in the same order as the great white shark (but in a different family). It towered over the great white, measuring a staggering 40 ft. long, twice the length of its smaller cousin, and weighing in at a jaw-dropping 5 to 7 tons, up to three times the weight of the great white. With these impressive stats, the megalodon takes the stage, and the authors then delve into the Earth's history.
Having recently delved into THE TRIASSIC PERIOD by the same authors, I was captivated by their exploration of the Earth's history and the intriguing mysteries surrounding the lack of fossils to explain all the dying-offs of animal life and other changes over the centuries.
The story then returns to 200 million years ago, when reptiles were the only significant creatures on Earth. The Earth's surface was very different then, with water in different places. So when people found these huge teeth of the Megalodon, they were baffled by their appearance in areas without water. In 1835, the Megalodon was named, but the Earth has changed over the centuries, and there are not enough fossils or skeletons remaining to show what the huge fish looked like. Since all sharks are made of cartilage instead of bone, they were less likely to have left behind intact skeletons.
According to scientists, the Megalodon lived on Earth for about 20 million years. They were highly successful predators, eating whales, sea lions, and sea turtles. An oddity that the author(s) added is that North Carolina named Megalodon teeth their state fossil. This validates that there was little truth or absolute knowledge about the Megalodon and many pages of supposition. Mildly interesting.
Having recently delved into THE TRIASSIC PERIOD by the same authors, I was captivated by their exploration of the Earth's history and the intriguing mysteries surrounding the lack of fossils to explain all the dying-offs of animal life and other changes over the centuries.
The story then returns to 200 million years ago, when reptiles were the only significant creatures on Earth. The Earth's surface was very different then, with water in different places. So when people found these huge teeth of the Megalodon, they were baffled by their appearance in areas without water. In 1835, the Megalodon was named, but the Earth has changed over the centuries, and there are not enough fossils or skeletons remaining to show what the huge fish looked like. Since all sharks are made of cartilage instead of bone, they were less likely to have left behind intact skeletons.
According to scientists, the Megalodon lived on Earth for about 20 million years. They were highly successful predators, eating whales, sea lions, and sea turtles. An oddity that the author(s) added is that North Carolina named Megalodon teeth their state fossil. This validates that there was little truth or absolute knowledge about the Megalodon and many pages of supposition. Mildly interesting.
August 2, 2024
Es un libro interesante, aunque hay que decir que del Megalodón, al menos como introducción, no hay mucho que decir, porque como el mismo libro afirma: no hay mucha información fósil sobre este tiburón que nos permita conocer más a fondo a la criatura, pero el libro cuenta con un marco de exposición muy bueno, cuando nos da un recorrido por las eras geológicas y las grandes extinciones en cada una de ellos y sus periodos. Hay un buen capítulo dedicado a como es que pudo haberse extinguido la criatura y los cambios en la Tierra en aquellas épocas. Y tiene bibliografía para aventar arriba. Vale la pena.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews