Sharks come in all shapes and sizes. The minuscule dwarf lantern shark is the smallest shark alive, being smaller than the human hand, according to Smithsonian. The aptly named megamouth canweighup to2,700 pounds and its mouth isapproximately four feet lengthwise, saysOceana.
Sharks are"elasmobranchs," which means they are madeofcartilaginous tissues,according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Even with over 536 species of these oceanic apex predators, there is one shark that beats all others in terms of its size.
What is the biggest shark?
The largest shark aliveis a whale shark, according tothe Smithsonian. It is also consideredthe largest fish in the world, says the Natural History Museum.
Whale sharks can reach 60 feet in length, says Smithsonian, and on average, these fishweigh20.6 tons, according to livescience.com.
These sharks are found mostly in tropical oceans buthave been spottedall over the worldfrom the U.S. and Brazil toMalaysia andThailand, according to Britannica. Whale sharks are known for theirbroad and flat heads and distinctive body markings oflight checkerboard stripes.
A whale shark's diet includeszooplankton, shrimp, algae, squidand even smalltunaandalbacore, saysBritannica.Whale sharks arefilter-feeding sharks, meaning as theyswim, a whale shark's mouth will filterseawaterfor food through the gill slits.
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What are the top 10 biggest sharks?
According to Save Our Seas Foundation, these are the top 10 largestsharks found in the ocean. These sharks can reach up to the following approximate lengths:
- Whale shark (62 feet)
- Basking shark (40 feet)
- Tiger shark (24 feet)
- Great white shark (23 feet)
- Greenland shark (21 feet)
- Great hammerhead shark (20 feet)
- Megamouth shark (18 feet)
- Bull shark (11 feet)
- Sand tiger/ragged-toothed shark (10 feet)
- Thresher shark (18 feet)
Note for the thresher shark, more than half of its body length comes from its long tail. The thresher shark hasone of the longest tails in the shark family, saysSave Our Seas Foundation.
What shark is bigger than a megalodon?
The megalodon is considered the largest shark tohave ever lived, according tothe Natural History Museum. Records of megalodonsdate to around20 million years ago, andthe sharkis a distant relative of the great white.
It is estimated megalodons could reachbetween15 and 18 meters, or around 49 to 60 feet,in length, says the Natural History Museum. Megalodons are estimated to have weighed up to120,000 pounds.
Other estimates state megalodons couldreach a maximum of 20 meters, roughly 67 feet,long, according to a-z-animals.com. In comparison, the largest whale shark recorded was 61.7 feet long, and the average weight is around41,000 pounds, or 20 tons.
Megalodons are larger than whale sharks, but the largest shark alive is a whale shark.
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Are megalodons still alive?
Despite internet rumors that megalodons are still lurking the deep seas, the shark species is extinct, saysthe Natural History Museum. The megalodon became extinctby the end of the Pliocene, which occurred approximately 2.6 million years ago when the Earthbegan to cool.
As ocean temperatures dropped and food sources were scarce,an estimatedthird of all large marine animals became extinct.Megalodons were native to tropical waters, so the cooler temperatures led to a loss of habitat,saysthe Natural History Museum.
Additionally, megalodons are believed to have given birth nearby theshore. When ice began to form at the poles and sea levels fell, these areaswere destroyed, saysthe Natural History Museum.
It is very unlikely megalodons are alive since the sharks would leave noticeable bite marks on other large marine life, and their enormous teeth be shattered on the ocean floor. In addition, the current cold, deep ocean climate is not hospitable for thesewarm-water sharks.
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