Today, the giant white shark is the ruler of the sea. In the past, that тιтle belonged to their giant “ancestor”, the Megalodon shark.

Megalodon is 3 times larger than a white shark – up to 20 meters, a powerful bite that no creature in history can match. Based on data from computer models, scientists believe that Megalodon can bite with a force of up to 11-18 tons, enough to crush a car.

This also means that Megalodon can hunt any prey in the ocean today, from sea lions, sea cows, sea turtles, dolphins, to large whales…

With such terrifying power, if Megalodon wasn’t the king of all water monsters, what other species would there be?

Introducing Livyatan Melvillei – the old enemy of the “super shark”

The Melvillei carnivorous whale fossil was discovered quite late in 2008, almost 400 years after Megalodon.

Melvillei also roamed the seas from about 13 million to 5 million years ago, which is the same time as the giant shark, and therefore compeтιтion between the two species is inevitable.

The shape of the Melvillei is almost similar to that of modern sperm whales, with a length of 13.5-18 meters and a weight of about 50 tons. For one thing, this ancient creature was armed for the purpose of hunting giant prey.

Melvillei’s function

Instead of the long and narrow jaws of sperm whales, Melvillei possesses a 3-meter-long skull with a wide jaw and conical teeth up to 36cm long – the largest teeth of all animals.

At the same time, the upper molars also have a concave part that helps to fit snugly with the lower molars when the mouth is closed, increasing the ability to cut meat.

The temporal cavity, where Melvillei’s jaw muscles are attached, is also much larger, allowing them to have a stronger bite.

Size of the temporal cavity of Melvillei, sperm whale, and killer whale

And you can imagine, a sperm whale that is more than capable of defeating a 13-meter-long giant squid, how much of a killer instinct Melvillei has.

In addition, the Melvillei fossil shows that their heads also carry wax oil organs similar to those of sperm whales. In sperm whales, this organ helps to support deep diving, broadcast acoustic navigation, and self-defense tools used to ram. The function is probably similar to that in Melvillei, even scientists think it is a hunting weapon.

When meeting small prey, Melvillei only needs to attack with its jaws, but with large prey, this species will use its head like a giant hammer, hitting the body at high speed, causing damage to internal organs, weakening the victim before cutting the flesh.

Even more frightening, whales have complex herd lives, and Melvillei is no exception. The ability to coordinate in a group when hunting gives them the ability to take down prey that is many times greater than themselves.

The reason Megalodon will be “defeated” when facing Melvillei

With two predators living in the same space, time, and main food source being marine mammals, sooner or later a life-and-death battle will take place between the two.

Megalodon seems to have quite a few advantages: a maximum weight twice that of Melvillei, an unparalleled bite force, a solid body, and no need to rise to the surface to breathe air.

But in terms of weight, Megalodon’s 100 tons with a length of 20 meters is the largest threshold according to some scientists’ estimates, and it is now widely recognized that the giant shark weighs only about 50 tons and is 18 meters long, about the same as the Melvillei whale.

And although their physical strength is not comparable, Melvillei makes up for it with the high intelligence of mammals, and the warm-blooded gives them the ability to manage more quickly.

As some recent findings have shown, sharks can fall into a coma if their stomachs are turned upside down. The Orca killer whale knows that disadvantage and applies it to hunt white sharks today, if you go back to the past, Mevillei is smart enough to use the same method, Megalodon only has water… to sell salt.

Finally, the most important factor is that Megalodon hunts solitary, and Melvillei follows the pack.

One-on-one, the result is difficult to determine, but 2, 3, or more than Melvillei and “fighting the council” must be a Megalodon, no matter how fierce, must have fallen.

Therefore, summing up all factors, Melvillei’s probability of winning the confrontation is higher than Megalodon. What do you think about the outcome of the battle between these two ancient monsters, please leave a comment below.