FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 8, 2022
Contact: Bonnie Farmer, Communications & Marketing Coordinator
410-326-2042, ext. 8067 Email: Bonnie.Farmer@calvertcountymd.gov
Failed Predation by Megalodon?
A new article published discusses this theory
SOLOMONS, MD – Sept. 8, 2022 – Living great white sharks don’t always succeed at killing their intended prey, and so it would seem with the extinct megatooth shark megalodon. Two associated (i.e., from the same individual) Miocene-epoch fossil whale vertebrae found along Calvert Cliffs were so traumatically damaged in life that the most plausible cause was a predatory encounter between the small whale and the giant shark megalodon, and yet the whale survived…for a time. This is the conclusion to which researchers at the Calvert Marine Museum (CMM), Maryland, and the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), College of Osteopathic Medicine have come to, after detailed study of these 15-million-year-old fossils.
One of these two whale vertebrae, from an individual that would have been about 13 feet long, preserves evidence of a major shear-compression fracture (Figures 1 and 2). For this kind of injury to happen, the whale’s backbones had to have been bent very forcefully into such a tight curve that pressure from the adjacent forward vertebra smashed the one shown in Figures 1 and 2. This would have been an excruciatingly painful injury for the whale.
These unusual fossils were found by long-time Calvert Marine Museum volunteer and fossil collector Mike Ellwood. CT-scans taken by Calvert Memorial Hospital of this pathological whale vertebra show how it was broken (Figure 2). The lower front end of the vertebra was broken off and telescoped into that part of the bottom of the vertebra that was not broken. Following the traumatic injury, this broken piece of bone was fixed in place by new bone growth (bottom of Figure 2).
In addition to the two whale vertebrae, Dr. Stephen Godfrey, CMM, and Dr. Brian Beatty, NYIT, describe a single megatoothed shark tooth from Otodus meglaodon found with the whale vertebrae (Figure 3). It was not embedded in either of the vertebrae and neither did they see megalodon bite marks on the vertebrae. There are several seemingly equally likely explanations for the association of this lone megalodon tooth with these vertebrae. 1) This tooth may have become associated simply by chance, unrelated in any way to the originating trauma or even the final death and presumed scavenging of the cetacean. 2) The tooth became embedded in the body of the whale, the result of a bite associated with the originating trauma. Then the tooth remained embedded in the whale’s body until it died, and both the vertebrae and tooth were subsequently preserved in very close proximity (i.e., touching). 3) The tooth was shed by the shark that killed the whale. Or finally, 4) The tooth was shed by a shark as it scavenged the whale’s carcass.
The fractures are severe and unlikely to have come about as a result of convulsions, seizures, or spasms, but these causes, other than the megalodon attack, can’t be completely ruled out. Seizures can cause vertebral fractures in humans, though these are most common in elderly adults with poor bone health. Bone-crushing seizures have not been observed in whales and dolphins, though domoic acid poisoning from harmful algal blooms are known to cause seizures in whales and are implicated in the deaths of newborn baleen whales. It is unlikely, but possible, that a large whale would be affected by domoic acid poisoning to the point of a spinal fracture-causing seizure. Similarly, protozoal infections are known to cause seizures in toothed and baleen whales, though physical diagnosis of this is impossible in a fossil. Bone fractures of the skull from possible collisions with the seafloor have been reported, but a spinal fracture this far back in the spinal column seems unlikely to be the result of a seafloor collision.
Even though the cause of the shear-compression fracture and resulting pathological bone growth is unknown, we think that the most plausible cause was a crushing ambush delivered by a megatoothed shark, Otodus megalodon (Figures 4 and 5). From other fossil finds along Calvert Cliffs, we know that megalodon was successfully preying upon both whales and dolphins. Despite the circumstantial evidence pointing towards megalodon as the likely predator, other albeit smaller macropredators are known from fossils along the cliffs including the sharks Parotodus benedenii and one of the ancestors of the living great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias. Additionally, the researchers can’t rule out the possibility that the injury was caused by an attack from a Miocene macroraptorial sperm whale.
The severity of this traumatic injury ranks up there with those seen in modern whales that have suffered from anthropogenically-induced trauma, like boat-strike blunt force injuries to their skull and vertebrae, blubber and muscle bruises forming large blood clots. Even with this variety of humanly induced traumas, shear-compression fractures like the one seen in the fossil whale have not yet been reported in living whales or dolphins.
In spite of the whale’s gruesome encounter with megalodon, it survived for a period of about two months before it died of unknown causes. The paper describing these amazing fossils was just published in the open-access online journal Palaeontologia Electronica (www. https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/)
Explore how the prehistoric past, natural environments, and maritime heritage come to life and tell a unique story of the Chesapeake Bay. The Calvert Marine Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $11.00 for adults; $9.00 for seniors, military with valid I.D, AAA and AARP members; $6.00 for children ages 5 - 12; children under 5 and museum members are admitted free. For more information about the museum, upcoming events, or membership, visit the website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call 410-326-2042. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Attached: Figures 1 – 5, below
Figure 1. One of two associated pathological whale vertebrae found along Calvert Cliffs. Notice how badly broken the bottom of the vertebra is…that happened while the whale was alive, not after it died during the process of fossilization. Image courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum.
Figure 2. A CT scan x-ray image through the middle of the upright whale vertebra seen in Figure 1 showing the broken and displaced bone on the bottom of the vertebra. Image courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum.
Figure 3. This Otodus megalodon tooth was found touching one of the pathological whale vertebrae. It would have come from a megalodon with a body length of 6 – 7 m (about 20 feet long). Notice how the tip of the tooth is broken. This is known as a spall fracture, what can happen to a tooth that strikes an object like a bone with such force that the tip of the tooth breaks off. Image courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum.
Figure 4. One way in which the vertebra of the whale could have been crushed; by a failed predatory attack by the megatooth shark Otodus megalodon. Art by Clarence (Shoe) Schumaker. Image courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum.
Figure 5. Supplementary image on the possible origin of the crushed whale vertebra, which includes an insert showing the way in which the lower portion of the vertebra was broken because of the intense bending of the backbone. Art by Clarence (Shoe) Schumaker. Image courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum.
