Megalodon

Twice the size of a great white shark, and with teeth 21cm long, this was the top predator of its time.

Type: Cartilaginous fish
Size: Up to 16m in length
Diet: Carnivore
Predators: No known predators
Lived: The Miocene and Pliocene epochs, 16-1.6 million years ago.

Megalodon, meaning “big tooth” in greek language, was the largest fish that has ever lived in history. The remains of this specie was found around 1.6 million years ago.

Both streamlined and muscular, megalodon had jaws over 2m wide. While megalodon could eat whatever it chose, its favourite food was whale. Other kinds of marine mammals such as seals and Odobenocetops were also on its menu.

Most of this shark’s hunting was in the open sea (juveniles lived closer to shore). It attacked its prey near the surface, when it came up for air.

Megalodon could swim at high speed in short bursts so tended to rush its prey from beneath. Especially when tackling large species, it would first aim to disable its prey by injuring a flipper or the tail. Once unable to swim properly, the victim would be easy to finish off. 

From scrutiny of its remains, scientists postulate that Megalodon belongs to order Lamniformes; however, disccusing megalodon, from the two proposed, scientists are still debating that which genus would be most appropriate for Megalodon.  Fossil evidence has revealed that megalodon fed upon large marine animals.

Heres a rough comparison between a: regualr sized shark, a Megalodon and a human: