This page is dedicated to the learning of EVOLUTION and EXTINCTION of the giant shark Carcharocles megalodon. Here, you will find all the information you need in order to access the specimen in a scientific database, download and print the files, science lessons, math lessons, and rubrics. Our hope is that your students learn about what scientists do by mimicking their scientific process.
Ultimately, your students will be able to reconstruct a megalodon jaw and calculate the size of the animal. The availability of his jaw is made possible by Dr. Gordon Hubbell, who has donated the specimen to the Florida Museum of Natural History for K12 purposes.
Upper left and lower left teeth belonging to the same animal. Photo by Claudia Grant.
Lessons
Lesson 1
How big was megalodon?
Lesson 2
Did Megalodon – the largest shark that ever lived – need to protect its babies?
Documentaries
Giant Megalodon – Biggest Shark – Prehistoric Predators Megalodon (Nature Wildlife Documentary)
Giant Megalodon – Biggest Shark – Prehistoric… by ChannelHub
Clash of the Americas
Prehistoric Predators: Season 1, Episode 7
Monster Shark
Available through IMBd and Amazon Prime
Videos
Megalodon fossil teeth show evidence of 10-million-year-old shark nursery
Florida Museum of Natural History researchers have discovered a 10-million-year-old Neotropical nursery area for the extinct megalodon shark in Panama, providing fossil evidence the fish used these types of areas to protect their young for millions of years. Join vertebrate paleontology graduate student Dana Ehret as he displays teeth scientists discovered during the project and compares them with other
megalodon specimens.
Megalodon nursery
Florida Museum researchers working in Panama recently discovered what they believe was a megalodon shark nursery millions of years ago. This video describing the exciting research is part of the Museum’s “Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived” exhibit, on display in Gainesville through Jan. 4, 2015.
Field & Education Guides
Florida Museum of Natural History Educator’s Guide for Megalodon
Key to the Fossil Sharks of the Gatun Formation
Fossils of Panama Field Guide
Articles & Press Releases
Ancient Nursery Area for the Extinct Giant Shark Megalodon from the Miocene of Panama
Catalina Pimiento, Dana J. Ehret, Bruce J. MacFadden, Gordon Hubbell
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0010552
New study of Panama shark, ray fossils shed light on ancient ocean connections
www.flmnh.ufl.edu/pressroom/2013/10/14/newstudyofpanamasharkrayfossilsshedsli ghtonancientoceanconnections/
Fossil sharks: Learning from and about the past
Catalina Pimiento, Rose Pringle
www.stri.si.edu/sites/publications/PDFs/STRI_W_Jaramillo_2011_Catalina_NSTA_resource.pdf
Evolution of white and megatooth sharks, and evidence for early predation on seals, sirenians, and whales
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ns.2013.511148
The Fossil History of Carcharodon and its Possible Ancestor, Cretolamna: A Study in Tooth Identification.
Shelton P. Applegate and Luis Espinoza-Arrubarrena
Size and Skeletal Anatomy of the Giant “Megatooth” Shark Carcharodon Megalodon.
Michael D. Gottfried, Leonard J.V. Compagno, S. Curtis Bowman
Paleoecology of Fossil White Sharks.
Robert W. Purdy
Other
