00:03Megalodon
00:03He was likely the largest marine predator to have ever existed.
00:07He had a mouth that could open up to more than 11 feet wide,
00:10filled with rows upon rows of 7-inch long, razor-sharp teeth.
00:14But now scientists are saying that those massive chompers
00:17may have all just been for show.
00:19Researchers from Bristol University have applied engineering techniques
00:22to digitally simulate how varied shapes of teeth handle bite force
00:25and load from lateral head movements,
00:27simulating how experts believe a Megalodon must have hunted,
00:30similar to modern-day sharks.
00:32What they expected?
00:33The Megalodon teeth would withstand immense force,
00:36greater than that of its smaller relatives.
00:38What they found instead was that the ancient behemoth's teeth were
00:41quote, relatively weaker than the most slender teeth of other megatooth sharks.
00:45The scientists believed that rather than their teeth changing to acclimate to a new diet,
00:49the quote, acquisition of its gigantic body size
00:52was responsible for the evolution of the peculiar teeth of Megalodon,
00:55meaning those pearly whites didn't evolve to be the ultimate cutting tool,
00:59but rather simply grew to match the creature's massive 60-foot body.
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