Jack Cooper利用巨齿鲨牙齿以及现生大白鲨颅骨重建的巨齿鲨三维模型(图片来自Jack Cooper et,al.2022)
中生代以来所有鲨鱼的大小对比,其中灰色的代表现生类群(图片来源Kenshu Shimada, DePaul University)
不过软骨鱼类的命运又非常的不幸, 它们熬了整整4亿年的时间,才由巨齿鲨坐稳了海洋霸主之位,但是这种繁荣并没有风光多久。巨齿鲨在地球上生活了2000万年,在200万年前的更新世却突然灭绝了,这很可能与气候突然变冷有很大关系。
尽管这是鲨鱼的不幸,但是这在一定程度上也是我们人类的幸运,想象一下要是海里还有这样的怪物存在,那么,电影《巨齿鲨》的恐怖情节恐怕是要真的照进现实了。
参考文献:
[1]Andreev, P.S., Sansom, I.J., Li, Q. et al. Spiny chondrichthyan from the lower Silurian of South China. Nature 609, 969–974 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05233-8
[2] Nicholas D. Pyenson,Paul L. Koch,Oh, the shark has such teeth: Did megatooth sharks play a larger role in prehistoric food webs?, Science Advances, 8, 25, (2022).
[3] Cooper JA, Hutchinson JR, Bernvi DC, Cliff G, Wilson RP, Dicken ML, Menzel J, Wroe S, Pirlo J, Pimiento C. The extinct shark Otodus megalodon was a transoceanic superpredator: Inferences from 3D modeling. Sci Adv. 2022
[4] Kenshu Shimada, Martin A. Becker & Michael L. Griffiths (2021) Body, jaw, and dentition lengths of macrophagous lamniform sharks, and body size evolution in Lamniformes with special reference to ‘off-the-scale’ gigantism of the megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon, Historical Biology, 33:11, 2543-2559, DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1812598