Megalodon

Megalodon Temporal range: Miocene – Pliocene ~23–3.6 mya
Model of the jaws of the megalodon at the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae
Genus:	Carcharodon
Species:	C. megalodon
Binomial name
Carcharodon megalodon

Megalodon is an extinct species of shark and was the largest shark of all time, as far as we know. Its scientific name is Carcharodon megalodon (meaning " sharp tooth big tooth"). It lived from the early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs, 23 to 3.6 million years ago (mya). It is a member of the family Lamnidae and the direct ancestor to the present-day great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ).

Megalodon had teeth, which are among the largest ever found, over 18 cm (7.1 in) long. Nicolaus Steno was the first to recognize the teeth as those of a giant shark. Paleontologists calculate that the shark was up to 20.3 m (67 ft) long with average length of 17 meters (56 feet). It weighed up to 48-103 metric tons.^[1]

1. ↑ Perez, Victor; Leder, Ronny; Badaut, Teddy (2021). "Body length estimation of Neogene macrophagous lamniform sharks (Carcharodon and Otodus) derived from associated fossil dentitions". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/1140.