for National Geographic News Prehistoric megalodon—literally
"megatooth"—sharks had the most powerful bite of any creature
that has ever lived, according to a new model. Known mostly from
the large teeth it left behind, Carcharodon megalodon first
appeared in Earth's seas about 16 million years ago (in the
Neogene period) and dined on giant prehistoric turtles and
whales. "Megalodon's killing strategy was to bite the tails and
flippers off large whales, effectively taking out their
propulsion systems," said study leader Stephen Wroe of the
University of New South Wales in Australia. The prehistoric
shark may have grown to lengths of over 50 feet (16 meters) and
weighed up to 30 times more than the largest great white. "A
great white is about the size of the clasper, or penis, of a
male megalodon," said Peter Klimley a shark expert at the
University of California at Davis, who was not involved with the
current research. "Could Have Crushed a Small Car" Wroe and his
colleagues extrapolated the bite force of meg