The extinction of the megalodon shark may be linked to the great white competition

The prehistoric struggle for food that could end the megalodon, the giant shark that ever lived, has been prepared.

Examination of the marine giant's fossilized teeth shows that it had to compete for food with another ferocious predator, the great white shark.

The struggle to reduce the population of whales and other prey may have pushed the megalodon to extinction three million years ago.

Environmental pressures, such as changes in sea level, also play a role.

Many different factors have been submitted, from habitat loss to sea level change to reduced prey. In a recent study, international researchers used zinc isotopes in the teeth of living and extinct sharks to understand the diet of long-dead animals.

Chemical evidence in living shark teeth and 13 fossilized megalodon teeth suggests that the great white shark and megalodon once occupied the same position in the food web also may have competed for the same food, added whales, dolphins, and guinea pigs.

Scientists say this, along with climate change and other environmental stresses, could have been a factor in the megalodon's demise.

"This is one piece of the puzzle with evidence that there was a competition between the modern great white shark and megalodon for aquatic food sources in the oceans while both were still alive," said Professor Thomas Tutken of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Germany, who led the research. Commenting on the study disseminated in Nature Communications, Catalina Pimiento of Swansea University said more work was needed to solve the mystery of what happened to the megalodon.

He said that loss had been studied from many angles over the past decade, with research pointing to several factors.

"The mystery of what megalodon ate and how much competition it had with other sharks remains," he said.