El megalodón de sangre caliente: Geoquímica y dientes fósiles iluminan al depredador prehistórico.

Un nuevo estudio proporciona evidencia empírica de que el tiburón Megalodon extinto era de sangre caliente. Utilizando una novedosa técnica geoquímica en dientes fósiles, los investigadores encontraron que este calor podría haber desempeñado un papel en el gigantismo del Megalodon y posiblemente en su extinción, resaltando la vulnerabilidad de los grandes depredadores marinos a los cambios ambientales.

The ability of Otodus megalodon to regulate body temperature is evolutionarily profound because the evolution of warm-bloodedness is thought to have also acted as a key driver for its gigantism. Previous geochemical investigations by Griffiths, Becker, and their colleagues have suggested that Otodus megalodon was a significant apex predator, residing at the very top of the marine food chain.

The high metabolic needs associated with maintaining warm-bloodedness may have contributed to the species’ extinction, the researchers say.

“Because megalodon went extinct around the time of extreme changes in climate and sea-level, which impacted the distribution of and the type of prey, our new study sheds light on the vulnerability of large marine apex predators, such as the great white shark, to stressors such as climate change,” says Griffiths, highlighting the need for conservation efforts to protect modern shark species.

For more on this research, see Megalodon Shark Was No Cold-Blooded Killer – And That Spelled Its Doom.