Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.

<h4>Background</h4>As we know from modern species, nursery areas are essential shark habitats for vulnerable young. Nurseries are typically highly productive, shallow-water habitats that are characterized by the presence of juveniles and neonates. It has been suggested that in these area...

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Autores principales:	Catalina Pimiento, Dana J Ehret, Bruce J Macfadden, Gordon Hubbell
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4d745abfc2b04c41bfed302dba656b61
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4d745abfc2b04c41bfed302dba656b612021-12-02T20:21:48ZAncient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0010552https://doaj.org/article/4d745abfc2b04c41bfed302dba656b612010-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20479893/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>As we know from modern species, nursery areas are essential shark habitats for vulnerable young. Nurseries are typically highly productive, shallow-water habitats that are characterized by the presence of juveniles and neonates. It has been suggested that in these areas, sharks can find ample food resources and protection from predators. Based on the fossil record, we know that the extinct Carcharocles megalodon was the biggest shark that ever lived. Previous proposed paleo-nursery areas for this species were based on the anecdotal presence of juvenile fossil teeth accompanied by fossil marine mammals. We now present the first definitive evidence of ancient nurseries for C. megalodon from the late Miocene of Panama, about 10 million years ago.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We collected and measured fossil shark teeth of C. megalodon, within the highly productive, shallow marine Gatun Formation from the Miocene of Panama. Surprisingly, and in contrast to other fossil accumulations, the majority of the teeth from Gatun are very small. Here we compare the tooth sizes from the Gatun with specimens from different, but analogous localities. In addition we calculate the total length of the individuals found in Gatun. These comparisons and estimates suggest that the small size of Gatun's C. megalodon is neither related to a small population of this species nor the tooth position within the jaw. Thus, the individuals from Gatun were mostly juveniles and neonates, with estimated body lengths between 2 and 10.5 meters.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>We propose that the Miocene Gatun Formation represents the first documented paleo-nursery area for C. megalodon from the Neotropics, and one of the few recorded in the fossil record for an extinct selachian. We therefore show that sharks have used nursery areas at least for 10 millions of years as an adaptive strategy during their life histories.Catalina PimientoDana J EhretBruce J MacfaddenGordon HubbellPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 5, Iss 5, p e10552 (2010)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Catalina Pimiento Dana J Ehret Bruce J Macfadden Gordon Hubbell Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
description	<h4>Background</h4>As we know from modern species, nursery areas are essential shark habitats for vulnerable young. Nurseries are typically highly productive, shallow-water habitats that are characterized by the presence of juveniles and neonates. It has been suggested that in these areas, sharks can find ample food resources and protection from predators. Based on the fossil record, we know that the extinct Carcharocles megalodon was the biggest shark that ever lived. Previous proposed paleo-nursery areas for this species were based on the anecdotal presence of juvenile fossil teeth accompanied by fossil marine mammals. We now present the first definitive evidence of ancient nurseries for C. megalodon from the late Miocene of Panama, about 10 million years ago.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We collected and measured fossil shark teeth of C. megalodon, within the highly productive, shallow marine Gatun Formation from the Miocene of Panama. Surprisingly, and in contrast to other fossil accumulations, the majority of the teeth from Gatun are very small. Here we compare the tooth sizes from the Gatun with specimens from different, but analogous localities. In addition we calculate the total length of the individuals found in Gatun. These comparisons and estimates suggest that the small size of Gatun's C. megalodon is neither related to a small population of this species nor the tooth position within the jaw. Thus, the individuals from Gatun were mostly juveniles and neonates, with estimated body lengths between 2 and 10.5 meters.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>We propose that the Miocene Gatun Formation represents the first documented paleo-nursery area for C. megalodon from the Neotropics, and one of the few recorded in the fossil record for an extinct selachian. We therefore show that sharks have used nursery areas at least for 10 millions of years as an adaptive strategy during their life histories.
format	article
author	Catalina Pimiento Dana J Ehret Bruce J Macfadden Gordon Hubbell
author_facet	Catalina Pimiento Dana J Ehret Bruce J Macfadden Gordon Hubbell
author_sort	Catalina Pimiento
title	Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
title_short	Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
title_full	Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
title_fullStr	Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
title_full_unstemmed	Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.
title_sort	ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the miocene of panama.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2010
url	https://doaj.org/article/4d745abfc2b04c41bfed302dba656b61
work_keys_str_mv	AT catalinapimiento ancientnurseryareafortheextinctgiantsharkmegalodonfromthemioceneofpanama AT danajehret ancientnurseryareafortheextinctgiantsharkmegalodonfromthemioceneofpanama AT brucejmacfadden ancientnurseryareafortheextinctgiantsharkmegalodonfromthemioceneofpanama AT gordonhubbell ancientnurseryareafortheextinctgiantsharkmegalodonfromthemioceneofpanama
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Ancient nursery area for the extinct giant shark megalodon from the Miocene of Panama.

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