In Depth
Otodus was bigger than any other carnivorous fish in the sea today, being one and half times bigger than the largest recorded great white shark. This large size however does not mean that Otodus was an apex predator as it would have had to share the seas with other predators such as Basilosaurus, an eighteen metre long predatory whale that looked more like an ancient mosasaur. Still, Otodus would have been able to hold its ground against most other predators and could have taken everything from large fish to smaller mammals.
Further Reading
– Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome III (livr. 15-16). – Imprim�rie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel 157-390. – L. Agassiz – 1843. – A new elusive otodontid shark (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) from the lower Miocene, and comments on the taxonomy of otodontid genera, including the ‘megatoothed’ clade. – Historical Biology. 29 (5): 704–714. – K. Shimada, R. E. Chandler, O. L. T. lam, T. Tanaka & D. J. Ward – 2016.
