Was the Yorktown Formation Otodus Megalodon's last stronghold?

[Joseph Fossil]

I've recently read a 2020 scientific paper describing pretty accurately the multiple nurseries that Carcharocles (Otodus) megalodon had established to raise young between the Miocene-Pliocene 23-3.6 Million Years ago (not just a single nursery in what is now Panama as previously thought).

 

Herraiz, J. L., Ribé, J., Botella, H., Martínez-Pérez, C., & Ferrón, H. G. (2020). Use of nursery areas by the extinct megatooth shark Otodus megalodon (Chondrichthyes: Lamniformes). Biology Letters, 16(11), 20200746. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0746

 

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0746

 

What I also found interesting about this paper was that the geologic latest nursery area the researchers identified is what is now the Yorktown Formation, North Carolina. 

 

 

 

Images Credit: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0746

 

 

C. megalodon went extinct in the Mediterranean as a result of the Messinian Salinity crisis 5.59 Million Years ago. The emergence of Orcas (Orcinus) and the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), a decrease in diatom diversity during the middle miocene-pliocene, and the miocene formation of the Isthmus of Panama which changed ocean current patterns also helped caused a decline in C. megalodon's population by the Pliocene.

 

 

But this 2020 paper has got me thinking about where did C. megalodon as a species make its last stand? Was the Yorktown Formation in North Carolina C. megalodon's last stronghold?

[Joseph Fossil]

The youngest confirmed records of Carcharocles (Otodus) megalodon I've previously heard about are those from the Tirabuzón Formation in California U.S. (dating 5.3-3.6 Million Years ago), the San Diego Formation in California U.S. (4.2-3.6 Million Years ago), the Daito Limestone of Japan (4.7-3.3 Million Years ago), and the Onzole/Borbon Formation in Ecuador (5.3-3.4 Million Years ago).

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331072519_The_Early_Pliocene_extinction_of_the_mega-toothed_shark_Otodus_megalodon_a_view_from_the_eastern_North_Pacific

 

The records of potential C. megalodon fossils in Taiwan dating between 2.6-0.8 Million Years ago are have yet to be reanalyzed and truly confirmed.

 

http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=34605&max_interval=Quaternary&country=Taiwan&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1

[Joseph Fossil]

Has any one on the fourm has found any C. megalodon teeth that date to slightly beyond the Zanclean Pliocene or dating to the Piacenzian stage of the Pliocene? For those that have searched the Yorktown Formation, what is the geologically youngest C. megalodon tooth you've found?

[Joseph Fossil]

Also, has anyone on the fourm found late Pliocene C. megalodon teeth from the Gulf of Mexico or South America?

[doushantuo]

Avoid noisy semantics: do not use terms like stronghold

currently under embargo:

Revisiting body size trends and nursery areas of the Neogene megatooth shark, Otodus
megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), reveals Bergmann’s rule possibly enhanced
its gigantism in cooler waters
Kenshu Shimadaa,b,c, Harry M. Maisch IVd,e, Victor J. Perezf,g, Martin A. Beckerh and Michael L. Griffithsh

 

HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2032024

[JohnJ]

26 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

do not use terms like stronghold

currently under embargo:

 

Not here.

[Joseph Fossil]

10 hours ago, doushantuo said:

Avoid noisy semantics: do not use terms like stronghold

currently under embargo:

Revisiting body size trends and nursery areas of the Neogene megatooth shark, Otodus
megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), reveals Bergmann’s rule possibly enhanced
its gigantism in cooler waters
Kenshu Shimadaa,b,c, Harry M. Maisch IVd,e, Victor J. Perezf,g, Martin A. Beckerh and Michael L. Griffithsh

 

HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2032024

 

@doushantuo Wait, what do you mean by "under embargo"? What happened that an embargo on the usage of the word "stronghold" on the fourm?

 

10 hours ago, doushantuo said:

Avoid noisy semantics: do not use terms like stronghold

currently under embargo:

Revisiting body size trends and nursery areas of the Neogene megatooth shark, Otodus
megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), reveals Bergmann’s rule possibly enhanced
its gigantism in cooler waters
Kenshu Shimadaa,b,c, Harry M. Maisch IVd,e, Victor J. Perezf,g, Martin A. Beckerh and Michael L. Griffithsh

 

HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2032024

 

@doushantuo But seriously, I do appreciate the tip!!!

[Joseph Fossil]

@doushantuo Wait, were you referring to the word "stronghold" as under embargo or the following paper:

Revisiting body size trends and nursery areas of the Neogene megatooth shark, Otodus
megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), reveals Bergmann’s rule possibly enhanced
its gigantism in cooler waters
Kenshu Shimadaa,b,c, Harry M. Maisch IVd,e, Victor J. Perezf,g, Martin A. Beckerh and Michael L. Griffithsh

 

Sorry. I'm just a tad bit confused?

 

 

[Joseph Fossil]

@JohnJ @doushantuo I would like to also ask you guys what do you think of the hypothesis that the Yorktown Formation was home to the geologically youngest C. megalodon population? If not, what other Formation do you think was once home to the geologically youngest C. megalodon population?

[JohnJ]

3 minutes ago, Joseph Fossil said:

@JohnJ @doushantuo I would like to also ask you guys what do you think of the hypothesis that the Yorktown Formation was home to the geologically youngest C. megalodon population? If not, what other Formation do you think was once home to the geologically youngest C. megalodon population?

I'm not a specialist in that Formation.  

[doushantuo]

JF,very little on this forum is under embargo

However,the Shimada paper IS under a publisher's embargo,but I personally think it will become an open accesss paper.

Apologies for any confusion,

Edited May 20, 2023 by doushantuo

[Joseph Fossil]

23 hours ago, doushantuo said:

JF,very little on this forum is under embargo

However,the Shimada paper IS under a publisher's embargo,but I personally think it will become an open accesss paper.

Apologies for any confusion,

 

@doushantuo That's perfectly ok! Thanks for the clarification, Don't worry!!