As I type this, it’s SHARKWEEK on the Discovery Channel. I know because my son loves Sharkweek. He told me all about Megalodon yesterday. I just had to watch it when we got home.
Here is a trivia puzzle on sharks, and some trivia on Megalodon. If you don’t know what that is, here’s your chance to find out!
1. The prehistoric Megalodon was the largest predator that ever lived, dwarfing its modern relative, the great white shark. If you could place a fully-grown Megalodon upright on its nose, it would be as tall as what? A California redwood tree; the Statue of Liberty; the Eiffel tower; a six-story building.
2. What does “Megalodon” mean? Mighty galleon; massive jaw; giant tooth; loud roar.
3. What creature preyed on the Megalodon? A whale; a form of amphibious sloth; a prehistoric seal; a giant squid.
4. Megalodon lived in prehistoric oceans during the Oligocene Period for 20 million years. They became extinct 2 million years ago due to what phenomenon? Volcanic eruptions in the ocean floor; cooling of the oceans; a virus that attacked its immune system; a huge meteorite.
5. Why have only fossilized Megalodon jaws and teeth have been found - never any Megalodon skeletons? Two million years or more in sea water will erode the hardest bones; marine archaeologists can’t work at those depths; the bones crumble away upon contact with air; the Megalodon had no bones.
6. Enough of the extinct Megalodon. Let’s move on to something here and now. Is this true or false: Whale sharks often try to bite divers when they swim with them.
7. Unborn sharks grow inside the mother for roughly one year, and several can be born to a litter. What word refers to the babies? Pups; Tadpoles; Calves; Goslings.
8. To protect their eyes from being damaged while attacking or while getting attacked, great whites: do nothing because they lack eyes; do nothing because a transparent shield covers their eyes; close their eyes since their eyelids are remarkably thick; roll their eyes back into their eye sockets.
ANSWERS:
1. The Megalodon was about 65 feet long, the height of a six-story building. Scientists extrapolate the size of Megalodon from the size of fossilized teeth and even complete fossilized jaws they have found. The jaws can be up to three meters wide. You could drive a car through a set of Megalodon dentures without scraping the paint! 2. Giant tooth, from the Greek: mega = big + don = tooth. 3. They had no predators. Megalodon was the most fearsome creature in the oceans; nothing attacked it. 4. Cooling of the oceans: like modern sharks, the Megalodon didn’t like cold water. 5. The Megalodon had no bones. Shark skeletons consist of cartilage, not bone. Cartilage decomposes long before it can fossilize. 6. False. Whale sharks are known to be gentle with divers. They aren’t a threat to humans. The only way they hurt people is by accidentally hitting them with their tails when swimming with them. 7. Upon being born, a pup immediately flees its mother and siblings because it might be seen as prey. 8. Roll their eyes back into their sockets. Due to this, great whites don’t actually see their prey just before the kill.