WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CARCHAROCLES MEGALODON

[Harry Pristis]

I've posted this elsewhere, but some of you may have missed it:

What Happened to Carcharocles megalodon along the SE Coast of the USA?

"FossilCollector" inquires:

>I know that Megalodon teeth are regularly found along the SE coast of

>the US, but there is one thing that I dont understand. Locations that

>currently have a regular population of Great Whites (Megalodon's little

>cousin) seem to also have a large population of marine mammals (seals,

>sea lions, etc). I've even heard speculation that the high fat

>content of such marine mammals is necessary for a Great White's

>metabolism.

>

>If such is the case, what kind of large "blubbery" sea mammal was there

>along the SE coast of North America in the period where the Megalodon

>was around? Was there some sort of warm water seals? Lots of

>cetaceans? Or is the current theory that Megalodon was more of a fish

>eater?

>

>I know the joke about "What did Megalodon eat? Whatever he dang well

>wanted to eat!", but seriously, what was the food supply like?

>

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"Harry Pristis" responds:

Putting aside the question of the doubtful relationship between C. megalodon and C.

carcharias (great white shark) . . . yes, there were seals, walrus, and whales of all sizes for a big shark to eat. But, what wiped out the Western Atlantic population of megalodons was the loss of their preferred prey item--the aquatic ape.

C. megalodon hunted aquatic apes where these days C. carcharias (great white shark) hunts sea lions--in near-shore waters. [http://www.primitivism.com/aquatic-ape.htm]

Aquatic apes were blubbery for buoyancy and to prevent hypothermia from long immersion in seawater. Female apes had developed oversized breasts for added buoyancy in supporting their less-bouyant infants.

The Florida population of aquatic ape thrived along the sea-coast till the Early Pliocene. Then, in one of those unpredictable cycles of planetary weather, hurricane after hurricane drove the hapless apes inland for safety from the storms.

The aquatic apes settled in the dry, hot interior of Florida, but they didn't prosper.

Away from the sea, the aquatic apes?s blubber was a liability. The females' flotation breasts were uncomfortable out of the water, and they tended to get a heat rash (the first rudimentary brassieres made of plaited palmetto leaves must have been invented in Florida).

But, these displaced coastal dwellers had other problems as they tried to adjust to the interior. The apes had developed head hair that grew longer than the hair on the rest of their bodies. This longer hair gave the infant apes an anchor point while swimming with an adult.

Away from the ocean, this long hair became another liability -- it became hard to manage. No amount of fingertip grooming for parasites and burrs could bring back the luster and body of sea-soaked locks. Both females and males lost some allure.

Besides the hard-to-manage hair, all these inland apes were hot and sweaty and lethargic and didn't bathe regularly so the birth rate fell off...they just were not getting laid.

Extrapolation based on modern apes suggests that these sweaty simians smelled like a road-killed skunk. Hence, the Florida population of aquatic ape is called Australopithecus foetidus or skunk ape.

There is to this day an occasional report of a skunk ape in the wild interior of South Florida...typically, the report is of smelling one that has passed by recently. [http://www.floridaskunkape.com/]

C. megalodon declined with the decline of its preferred prey. ("Once you've

had Australopithecine, nothing else tastes quite so fine!")

So the big sharks ate whale and dugong and manatee and walrus, but what they dang-well wanted was ape. The megalodons persisted for a while, but there was no enthusiasm, and they died out also.

---Harry Pristis 

[Gatorman]

Well that was more than interesting  :-X

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Does this also explain the omnipresence of the fabled Chupacabra of South TX?  Could the uppity eschelons of the skunk ape hierarchy have banished others of their kind with persistent mange, labled them Chupacabras, and banished them to the most verboten of places, namely Texas?  One can only conjecture...

[Harry Pristis]

Dan, I'm really fascinated by the report of those Chupacabra!  Did you see the pic of the head?!!  When I had heard of this legend in the past, I always thought of jaguarundi.  The pic didn't look like a jaguarundi, did it?  If you hear anything more about it, how about posting it.  If the specimen is debunked, it might not make as much news as the original claim.

-----Harry Pristis

[worthy 55]

Harry, I thought that there were a large type of seal that once lived on the southern and Eastern cost of the us ?? ??? Could that have been a food source ? ??? ???

[Harry Pristis]

Yes, Worthy, there was a seal, the Caribbean Monk Seal, Monachus tropicalis, that lived in Florida waters in the Pleistocene.  It is likely to have been here in the Pliocene, as well.  Judging from the rarity of fossils, this seal was not abundant OR it was totally digestible -- just like the Aquatic Apes!

-----Harry Pristis    ;D