The great white shark “was the reason the mighty Megalodon became extinct.”

Prey competition with great white sharks may have led to the extinction of Megalodon, one of the largest predators to date.

Giant insecticidal sharks, such as Otodus megalodon (better known as megalodon), inhabited the world’s oceans 23 to 3.6 million years ago and may have grown up to 20 meters.

For comparison, today the largest great white sharks reach a length of only 6 meters.

In a new study, researchers have found trace amounts of zinc in modern and fossil shark teeth around the world, including megalodon and modern and fossil great white shark teeth.

Zinc is incorporated into tooth enamel during formation and can be used to understand the animal’s diet and study the nutritional levels of animals (how much is supplied by the food chain).

Comparing findings from megalodon and sharks, the researchers found that when the animals coexisted in the early Pliocene, their nutritional stages were aligned and they were able to compete for the same food resource.

Researchers have pointed out that there are many potential causes for the megalodon’s extinction. This has been the subject of much controversy, including climate change and the environment, but may be due to great competition from the great white shark.

Professor Michael Griffiths of William Paterson University said:

“But it is really surprising that zinc isotope levels from the teeth of early Pliocene sharks in North Carolina suggest that the nutritional stages of early great white sharks overlap significantly with the much larger megalodon.”

Professor Kenshu Shimada of the University of Chicago at DePaul added:

“More research is needed, but our results appear to support possible Megalodon dietary competition with great white sharks in the early Pliocene.”

The results of the survey are published in Nature Communications.