Big book of mythology

Megalodon

This was requested by a very kind and polite user named @Tesla1856, I usually don't like doing works or references animals especially Prehistoric ones because of two words Taxomony and Anatonomy. However since this user was very kind and polite I decide to do it. However if someone else ask for an animal I will do it but I will take a loooong time to do it. I hope this helps though :) XOXO BUTTERBALL.

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Megalodon

Origin: It Existed during the Cenozoic era, this is a prehistoric animal.

Summary and or Explanation:

Megalodon (/ˈmɛɡəlɵdɒn/ meg-ə-lə-don or /ˈmeɪɡəlɵdɒn/ may-ghə-lə-don; meaning "big tooth", from Ancient Greek:μέγας (megas) "big, mighty" and ὀδoύς (odoús), "tooth"-whose stem is odont-, as seen in the genitive case form ὀδόντος,odóntos) is an extinct species of shark that lived approximately 15.9 to 2.6 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era (middle Miocene to end of Pliocene).

The taxonomic assignment of C. megalodon has been debated for nearly a century, and is still under dispute. The two major interpretations are Carcharodon megalodon (under family Lamnidae) or Carcharocles megalodon (under the family Otodontidae). Consequently, the scientific name of this species is commonly abbreviated C. megalodon in the literature.

C. megalodon is regarded as one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history (Move over Jaws you lose) ,  and likely had a profound impact on the structure of marine communities. Fossil remains suggest that this giant shark reached a maximum length of 18 metres (59 ft), and also affirm that it had a cosmopolitan distribution (That's actually interesting because  most sharks  or descendants of sharks suffer from Sexual Dimorphism) . Scientists suggest that C. megalodon looked like a stockier version of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias.

According to Renaissance accounts, gigantic, triangular fossil teeth often found embedded in rocky formations were once believed to be the petrified tongues, or glossopetrae, of dragons and snakes. This interpretation was corrected in 1667 by Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno, who recognized them as shark teeth, and famously produced a depiction of a shark's head bearing such teeth. He described his findings in the book The Head of a Shark Dissected, which also contained an illustration of a C. megalodon tooth.

Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz gave the shark its initial scientific name, Carcharodon megalodon, in 1835, in his research work Recherches sur les poissons fossiles (Research on fossil fish), which he completed in 1843. Megalodon teeth are morphologically similar to the teeth of the great white shark. On the basis of this observation, Agassiz assigned megalodon to the genus Carcharodon. While the scientific name is C. megalodon, it is often informally dubbed the "megatooth shark", "giant white shark" or "monster shark".

C. megalodon is represented in the fossil record primarily by teeth and vertebral centra. As with all sharks, C. megalodon skeleton was formed of cartilage rather than bone; this results in mostly poorly preserved fossil specimens.  While the earliest megalodon remains were reported from late Oligocene strata, circa 28 million years old, a more generally accepted date for the origin of the species is the Middle Miocene, about 15.9 million years ago. Although fossils are mostly absent in strata extending beyond the Tertiary boundary, they have been reported from subsequent Pleistocene strata. It is believed that C. megalodon became extinct around end of the Pliocene, probably about 2.6 million years ago; reported post-Pliocene C. megalodon teeth are thought to be reworked fossils. C. megalodon had a cosmopolitan distribution, its fossils have been excavated from many parts of the world, including Europe, Africa and both North and South America, as well as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Canary Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malta, Grenadines  and India.Megalodon teeth have been excavated from regions far away from continental lands, such as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.