cowsharks Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 If Megalodon sharks could grow upwards of 70 feet long, would it make sense that their vertebra would be "quite large" to support such a large structure? Step back for a moment and think about the huge size of Whale vertebra that folks used to find at Lee Creek. I've seen some whale verts easily around 8 to 10 inches in diameter, and at least that tall/long or longer. Now, back to Megalodon vertebra. I've seen some vertebrae that folks say came from Megalodon sharks and they were around 3 inches in diameter and just under 1" thick. I understand that shark vertebra are cartilaginous and do not usually fossilize. That being said, I find it hard to believe that there aren't significantly bigger Meg verts found, especially from places like Lee Creek. I've seen one or two pics of large Meg verts from Belgium that look to be around 6 or 7 inches in diameter. So, are there any pics of large Meg verts from the US, Peru, Chile, or other localities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Like this one: http://i48.tinypic.com/34fgz1v.png Found on this forum: http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9327362/88/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metopocetus Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 There is a roughly 5" vert at Calvert Marine Museum in the hall with the big shark model. There are verts in the collection that are roughly 2.5"-3" and are definitely from a Mako. I'd be hesitant to put the megalodon label on anything that isn't greater than 3-4". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Like this one: http://i48.tinypic.com/34fgz1v.png Found on this forum: http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9327362/88/ Whats the name of the guy whos got that jaw/verts in the background? Hubel or something? "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfossilcollector Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Whats the name of the guy whos got that jaw/verts in the background? Hubel or something? Are you thinking of Gorden Hubbell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 That sounds right, thanks "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 There is a roughly 5" vert at Calvert Marine Museum in the hall with the big shark model. There are verts in the collection that are roughly 2.5"-3" and are definitely from a Mako. I'd be hesitant to put the megalodon label on anything that isn't greater than 3-4". Do you know if that 5" vert is from Calvert Cliffs or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 If Megalodon sharks could grow upwards of 70 feet long, would it make sense that their vertebra would be "quite large" to support such a large structure? Step back for a moment and think about the huge size of Whale vertebra that folks used to find at Lee Creek. I've seen some whale verts easily around 8 to 10 inches in diameter, and at least that tall/long or longer. Now, back to Megalodon vertebra. I've seen some vertebrae that folks say came from Megalodon sharks and they were around 3 inches in diameter and just under 1" thick. I understand that shark vertebra are cartilaginous and do not usually fossilize. That being said, I find it hard to believe that there aren't significantly bigger Meg verts found, especially from places like Lee Creek. I've seen one or two pics of large Meg verts from Belgium that look to be around 6 or 7 inches in diameter. So, are there any pics of large Meg verts from the US, Peru, Chile, or other localities? The largest known centrum is from Denmark and is 230mm, described in that paper : http://2dgf.dk/xpdf/bull32-01-02-1-32.pdf Centra are very rare given their cartilaginous nature and according to Gottfried et al. 1996 extrapolations, there were more than 200 vertebra in a single megalodon, of various size depending their position. So you have huge sampling bias coupled with the size of the individual coupled with the specific position of the centrum which had varied sizes. That's why we don't have many very large centra, or many at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Here is a shark centrum from a Texas cretaceous site. These sharks couldn't have been near as big as Megalodons but this one is nearly 5 inches across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Past Hunter Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 The largest I ever found. I could'nt tell you the species though. "If you choose not to decide. You still have made a choice." - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeCreek2thHntr Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Here are a set of associated meg verts from Italy. Largest is just over 7" in diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 whoa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Here is another view of the meg vert from the Hubble collection which I toured last week. "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Knowing the 23 cm wide vert from Denmark was associated with a 16 cm long, 12 cm wide tooth (along with 19 other vertebra), we can predict verts at least about 27-29 cm wide could occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossil26 Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Associated shark verts probably Mako from Sharktooth Hill area in Bakersfield, ca. Average size around 3" One of two jackets. Approx. 40 verts in all showing. Would love to find a megalodon vert. Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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