The extant diversity and rich fossil record of cetaceans provides an extraordinary
evolutionary context for investigating the relationship between form, function and ecology …

The extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon is the last member of the predatory megatoothed
lineage and is reported from Neogene sediments from nearly all continents. The timing of …

The end of the Pliocene marked the beginning of a period of great climatic variability and
sea-level oscillations. Here, based on a new analysis of the fossil record, we identify a …

Although shark teeth are abundant in the fossil record, their bodies are rarely preserved.
Thus, our understanding of the anatomy of the extinct Otodus megalodon remains …

Understanding heterogeneity in species richness between closely related clades is a key
research question in ecology and evolutionary biology. Multiple hypotheses have been …

Inferring the size of extinct animals is fraught with danger, especially when they were much
larger than their modern relatives. Such extrapolations are particularly risky when allometry …

Gigantism—very large body size—is an ecologically important trait associated with
competitive superiority. Although it has been studied in particular cases, the general …

Through elasmobranch (sharks and rays) evolutionary history, gigantism evolved multiple
times in phylogenetically distant species, some of which are now extinct. Interestingly, the …

The megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon, is widely accepted as the largest macrophagous
shark that ever lived; and yet, despite over a century of research, its size is still debated. The …

ABSTRACT Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) is a gigantic late Neogene
shark that lived nearly worldwide in tropical-temperate regions. Its gigantic teeth have …