Tyrannosaurus rex and Megalodon didn’t stay on the similar time, and much more, one lived on land and the opposite within the ocean. However nonetheless, they each dominated their ecosystems on the very high of the meals chain. However who was the fiercest of all of them?
To reply this query, it’s greatest to interrupt down every mega-hunter. Which one was the largest, quickest, strongest, and which one survived and thrived the longest earlier than it went extinct?
The Worlds of T. rex and Megalodon
First, let’s have a look at the worlds by which each species lived and thrived. T. rex lived in the course of the Cretaceous Interval between 66 million years and 68 million years in the past within the western U.S., in locations like present-day Wyoming and Montana.
On the time, its world wasn’t practically as dry and arid as it’s in the present day. The atmosphere was subtropical, just like the Gulf Shore of Louisiana. T. rex undoubtedly dominated its environs, noshing on the whole lot it might get its claws on, from smaller dinosaurs to crocodiles and even some mammals. This beast ate flesh however might additionally chew by bone.
Megalodon, then again, lived a lot later. It was the most important fish (not whale) to ever swim the seas, and it lived from round 23 million years to three.6 million years in the past, in the course of the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Much like T. rex, it ate nearly the whole lot that it might catch, from massive marine mammals to fish. And it thrived in practically all of the world’s oceans minus these within the polar areas.
Learn Extra: Nearly 2 Billion T. Rexes As soon as Stomped the Earth
(Credit score: Oliver Denker/Shutterstock)
Evaluating the Measurement of Megalodon and T. rex
When these two beasts go face to face, issues aren’t precisely even, says Scott Individuals, an assistant professor of paleontology on the Faculty of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. For starters, there was an enormous distinction between the 2 species when it comes to measurement.
There’s a number of controversy about Megalodon measurement as a result of practically all of our data concerning measurement comes from its enamel since its physique is almost not possible to come back by.
“Megalodon is fabricated from cartilage and doesn’t have very excessive preservation potential, so its odds of stepping into the fossil report are very low,” says Individuals.
However its enamel can inform us quite a bit about its potential measurement. And since it sheds so many, we have now plenty of them. Researchers are considerably assured in saying that it reached about 65 ft in size, across the size of a tractor-trailer.
That’s a lot bigger than that of T. rex, which was round 40 ft. Though T. rex was smaller, it’s additionally vital to contemplate that whales and sharks could be a lot bigger as a result of the buoyancy of water holds them up and defies gravity.
The subsequent vital level is to notice its searching prowess, taking a look at which mega-hunter had the strongest chew pressure.
“The chew pressure of Megalodon is someplace within the neighborhood of 30,000 kilos of pressure,” says Individuals. “T. rex maxes out far decrease with 12,000-8,000 kilos of pressure.” Nonetheless, in both case, you wouldn’t need to be on the receiving finish of that chew.
Learn Extra: What Is a Megalodon? Details About One of many Greatest Sharks in Historical past
How Quick Had been These Mega Predators?
Velocity is tougher to get at, and, in truth, there’s been an extended historical past of debate round how briskly these creatures actually have been. Megalodon has to deal with the bodily resistance of water, which clearly places it at a extreme drawback in comparison with a predator that runs on land. Taking this under consideration, most estimations put this large shark’s swimming pace at round 11 mph.
The controversy round T. rex has been intense as a result of it’s tough to know for certain. Most paleontologists will say that it wasn’t able to operating due to its sheer measurement and the truth that it moved about on simply two ft. However Individuals is of the camp that believes T. rex was certainly a runner.
“It simply appears inconceivable {that a} massive predator can be incapable of sprinting,” says Individuals. “I’m snug saying it might run round 25 mph.”
Ultimately, each of those dominant species dominated their worlds. They have been each fierce mega-hunters. T. rex was smaller and sooner with a much-reduced chew pressure. However not like Megalodon, it was hardly in charge for its extinction — an asteroid takes the cake for that. Megalodon was greater and slower with an enormous chew pressure, and its extinction couldn’t be blamed on one thing otherworldly as a result of, ultimately, it was seemingly outcompeted by different marine predators.
Learn Extra: 6 Historic Mega-Predators that As soon as Dominated the World
Article Sources
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Sara Novak is a science journalist primarily based in South Carolina. Along with writing for Uncover, her work seems in Scientific American, Standard Science, New Scientist, Sierra Journal, Astronomy Journal, and lots of extra. She graduated with a bachelor’s diploma in Journalism from the Grady Faculty of Journalism on the College of Georgia. She’s additionally a candidate for a grasp’s diploma in science writing from Johns Hopkins College, (anticipated commencement 2023).
