"Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives is a 2014 pseudo-documentary first aired on American TV network Discovery Channel about the possible survival of the prehistoric shark. The story, with only short disclaimers at the beginning and ending indicating that it is fictional, revolves around the loss of a fishing boat and all of its crew off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa and an ensuing investigation that points to an attack by a member of the species ""megalodon"", a prehistoric shark thought to be long extinct. Its format is that of a documentary that includes"
"Archelon Archelon (from the Greek roots ἀρχε- ""arkhe-"" ""chief"" and χελώνη ""chelone"" ""turtle"", meaning ""ruler turtle"") is an extinct sea turtle from the Late Cretaceous, the largest ever to have been documented– head to tail and flipper to flipper–and the second-heaviest––behind ""Stupendemys"". The first specimen of ""Archelon"" (YPM 3000) was collected from the Campanian-age Pierre Shale of South Dakota (a geological formation dated to 80.5 million years ago) by Dr. G.R. Wieland in 1895 and described by him the following year (Wieland, 1896). The largest ""Archelon"" fossil, found in the Pierre Shale of South Dakota in the 1970s, measures more"
"probably did not frequent the open ocean as much. Archelon Archelon (from the Greek roots ἀρχε- ""arkhe-"" ""chief"" and χελώνη ""chelone"" ""turtle"", meaning ""ruler turtle"") is an extinct sea turtle from the Late Cretaceous, the largest ever to have been documented– head to tail and flipper to flipper–and the second-heaviest––behind ""Stupendemys"". The first specimen of ""Archelon"" (YPM 3000) was collected from the Campanian-age Pierre Shale of South Dakota (a geological formation dated to 80.5 million years ago) by Dr. G.R. Wieland in 1895 and described by him the following year (Wieland, 1896). The largest ""Archelon"" fossil, found in the Pierre"
"marine turtles such as protostegids, other genera of Cheloniidae, though significantly smaller in size survived the mass extinction and continued on until the present day. Gigantatypus Gigantatypus is an extinct late Maastrichtian sea turtle that lived in the southern regions of the Tethys Ocean about off the north eastern margins of Cretaceous Africa immediately before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction events . Fossil remains of ""Gigantatypus"" are so far only represented in sediments from Jordan. Estimated at over in length, members of this genus reached remarkably large proportions equivalent to that of ""Archelon"" Wieland, 1896 , considered as the largest marine turtles"
"Colossal squid The colossal squid (""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"", from Greek ""mesos"" (middle), ""onycho"" (claw, nail), and ""teuthis"" (squid)), sometimes called the Antarctic squid or giant cranch squid, is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only known member of the genus ""Mesonychoteuthis"". It is known from only a few specimens, and current estimates put its maximum size at long and weighing possibly up to , based on analysis of smaller and immature specimens, making it the largest-known invertebrate. Unlike the giant squid, whose arms and tentacles have only suckers lined with small teeth, the"
"al."", 2012:683). Cephalopods were at one time the largest of all organisms on Earth (Smith ""et al."", 2016), and numerous species of comparable size to the largest present day squids are known from the fossil record, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids. In terms of mass, the largest of all known cephalopods were likely the giant shelled ammonoids and endocerid nautiloids (Teichert & Kummel, 1960:6), though perhaps still second to the largest living cephalopods when considering tissue mass alone (Vermeij, 2016). Size, and particularly maximum size, has been one of the most interesting aspects of"
"Diprotodon Diprotodon, meaning ""two forward teeth"", is the largest known marsupial to have ever lived. Along with many other members of a group of species collectively known as the ""Australian megafauna"", it existed from approximately 1.6 million years ago until extinction some 46,000 years ago (through most of the Pleistocene epoch). ""Diprotodon"" species fossils have been found in sites across mainland Australia, including complete skulls and skeletons, as well as hair and foot impressions. Female skeletons have been found with babies located where the mother's pouch would have been. The largest specimens were hippopotamus-sized: about from nose to tail, standing"
"Whale shark The whale shark (""Rhincodon typus"") is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of about . The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate. It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984 it was classified as ""Rhiniodon"" into Rhinodontidae. The whale shark is found in open"
"Megalon Megalon is a bipedal, humanoid, beetle-like burrowing insect standing at 55 meters (180 feet) tall and weighing 40,000 metric tons (44,092 short tons), and the god of the subterranean nation of Seatopia. While Megalon is by no means intelligent, he makes up for it with his strength. Megalon possess two drill-like front appendages, which it uses both for burrowing and as weapons, and a set of wings usually covered by a beetle-like shell. The creature can fly at speeds of up to Mach 3, burrow underground at speeds of up to Mach 2, and swim at speeds of up"
"Megadolomedes Megadolomedes is a genus of spider in the family Pisauridae. The genus contains only one species, Megadolomedes australianus, commonly known as the giant water spider. It is one of Australia's largest spiders, with a legspan of up to 18 cm. Found near creeks and ponds, it is capable of running on water. Food includes small fish, tadpoles and aquatic insects. Air is trapped on body and leg hair, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time. German naturalist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch described the giant water spider as ""Dolomedes australianus"" in 1865, from a specimen collected in"
"achieved by greatly stretching the two tentacles like elastic bands. Solórzano's velvet worm (""Peripatus solorzanoi"") is the largest velvet worm known. An adult female was recorded to have a body length of 22 cm (approximately 8.7 in). The largest arthropod known to have existed is the eurypterid (sea scorpion) ""Jaekelopterus"", reaching up to in body length, followed by the millipede relative ""Arthropleura"" at around in length. Among living arthropods, the Japanese spider crab (""Macrocheira kaempferi"") is the largest in overall size, the record specimen, caught in 1921, had an extended arm span of and weighed about . The heaviest is"
"than long, and about wide from flipper to flipper, making it the largest turtle ever discovered. It was a marine turtle, whose closest living relative is the leatherback sea turtle. ""Archelon"" lived at a time when a shallow sea covered most of central North America. Most of the known remains have been found in South Dakota and Wyoming. Though anatomically similar to the earlier species ""Protostega gigas"", it was much larger. Unlike most modern turtles but like the related leatherback sea turtle, ""Archelon"" did not have a solid shell, but instead had a skeletal framework supporting a leathery or bony"
"whales. The giant squid is the second-largest mollusc and one of the largest of all extant invertebrates. It is only exceeded by the colossal squid, ""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"", which may have a mantle nearly twice as long. Several extinct cephalopods, such as the Cretaceous vampyromorphid ""Tusoteuthis"", the Cretaceous coleoid ""Yezoteuthis"", and the Ordovician nautiloid ""Cameroceras"" may have grown even larger. Giant squid size, particularly total length, has often been exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching and even exceeding are widespread, but no specimens approaching this size have been scientifically documented. According to giant squid expert Steve O'Shea, such lengths were likely achieved"
"rivers and lakes of New Caledonia. Some, such as ""Neogalaxias"", exist only in small areas. The nautilus—considered a living fossil and related to the ammonites, which became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic era—occurs in Pacific waters around New Caledonia. There is a large diversity of marine fish in the surrounding waters, which are within the extents of the Coral Sea. Several species of New Caledonia are remarkable for their size: ""Ducula goliath"" is the largest extant species of pigeon; ""Rhacodactylus leachianus"", the largest gecko in the world; ""Phoboscincus bocourti"" the largest skink in the world, thought to be"
"Varanoidea Varanoidea is a superfamily of lizards, including the well-known family Varanidae (the monitors or goanna). Also included in the Varanoidea are the Lanthanotidae (earless monitor lizards), and the extinct Palaeovaranidae. Throughout their long evolutionary history, varanoids have exhibited great diversity, both in habitat and form. This superfamily includes the largest-known terrestrial lizard, Megalania (5–6 meters), and the largest extant lizard, the Komodo dragon (""Varanus komodoensis"", 3+ meters). Either synonymous with, or a subgroup of, the group Platynota, the varanoids first appear in the fossil record in the latter part of Early Cretaceous, but possible varanoid ancestors have been traced"
"Wollongong. Megadolomedes Megadolomedes is a genus of spider in the family Pisauridae. The genus contains only one species, Megadolomedes australianus, commonly known as the giant water spider. It is one of Australia's largest spiders, with a legspan of up to 18 cm. Found near creeks and ponds, it is capable of running on water. Food includes small fish, tadpoles and aquatic insects. Air is trapped on body and leg hair, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time. German naturalist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch described the giant water spider as ""Dolomedes australianus"" in 1865, from a specimen collected"
"ecosystems of Early Devonian Euramerica. Although eurypterids such as ""Jaekelopterus"" are often called ""sea scorpions"", the strata in which ""Jaekelopterus"" fossils have been found suggest that it did not dwell in marine environments proper. ""Jaekelopterus"" is the largest known eurypterid and the largest known arthropod to ever exist. A chelicera (claw) from the Emsian Klerf Formation of Willwerath, Germany measured in length, but is missing a quarter of its length, suggesting that the full chelicera would have been long. If the proportions between body length and chelicerae match those of other giant pterygotids, such as ""Acutiramus"" and ""Pterygotus"" where the"
"reports of ""the largest dinosaur ever!"". While ""Sauroposeidon"" likely represents the tallest known dinosaur taxon, it does not hold records for either the longest or most massive. ""Patagotitan"" or ""Argentinosaurus"" make better candidates for the title ""World's Largest Dinosaur"" (presuming to ignore, as is conventional, ""Amphicoelias""), though incomplete fossil evidence makes exact rankings impossible. The original ""Sauroposeidon"" find was composed of four articulated, mid-cervical vertebrae (numbers 5 to 8), with the cervical ribs in place. The vertebrae are extremely elongated, with the largest one having an overall length of , making it the longest sauropod neck vertebra on record. Examination"
"by squids, with more than twenty species exceeding the largest-bodied octopuses and cuttlefish. The largest of all is the colossal squid (""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"") with an estimated maximum mantle length of (Roper & Jereb, 2010c:173). Even greater mantle lengths have historically been reported for the giant squid (""Architeuthis dux""), but these have been discredited (see O'Shea & Bolstad, 2008). The longest scientifically documented specimens belong to the giant squid, with a maximum total length of (Roper & Shea, 2013:114). Despite its proportionally shorter tentacles, the colossal squid may rival the giant squid in total length, but the species's size limits are"
"water above. There are around 70 cephalopod species in the Southern Ocean, the largest of which is the colossal squid (""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni""), which at up to is among the largest invertebrate in the world and a true Polar giant. Squid makes up most of the diet of some animals, such as grey-headed albatrosses and sperm whales, and the warty squid (""Moroteuthis ingens"") is one of the subantarctic's most preyed upon species by vertebrates. The red Antarctic sea urchin (""Sterechinus neumayeri"") has been used in several studies and has become a model organism. This is by far the best-known sea urchin"
"has previously been placed in the genus ""Colossochelys"", however this name is in fact a junior synonym of ""Megalochelys"", the statement of ""withdrawn"" by Auffenberg (1974). Hence the correct genus is ""Megalochelys"" and the correct species is ""M. atlas"". Megalochelys atlas Megalochelys atlas is an extinct species of giant cryptodiran turtle from the Miocene through to the Pleistocene periods. During the dry glacial periods it ranged from western India and Pakistan (possibly even as far west as southern and eastern Europe) to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia. ""Megalochelys atlas"" is the largest known member of Testudinidae,"
"total length, and mass, with the largest species by at least two of these measures being the colossal squid, ""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"". Reaching an estimated in mantle length and in total length, and weighing as much as , this species is also the largest of all extant invertebrates (Rosa & Seibel, 2010; McClain ""et al."", 2015; Rosa ""et al."", 2017). The only other squid that approaches these dimensions is the giant squid of the genus ""Architeuthis"", with females up to , in mantle length, and possibly as much as in total length, making it likely the longest of all cephalopods (McClain"
"and rays, have jaws and skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. Megalodon is an extinct species of shark that lived about 28 to 1.5 Ma. It looked much like a stocky version of the great white shark, but was much larger with fossil lengths reaching . Found in all oceans it was one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history, and probably had a profound impact on marine life. The Greenland shark has the longest known lifespan of all vertebrates, about 400 years. Bony fish have jaws and skeletons made of bone rather than cartilage. Bony"
"mantle length. Cephalopods of comparable size to the largest present day squid are known from fossil remains, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids (see Teichert & Kummel, 1960; Stevens, 1988; Eyden, 2003b; Larson, 2010; Iba ""et al."", 2015). What follows is an overview of the present state of scientific knowledge on the maximum size of the eight extant cephalopod species (six squids and two octopuses) that are known or estimated to reach at least in mass. Extinct taxa are considered separately at the end. Though a substantial number of colossal squid (""Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni"") remains have"
"uncertain because only a handful of mature specimens have been recorded. The heaviest known cephalopod, and the largest living invertebrate, is the colossal squid. The largest recorded specimen of this species, caught in the Ross Sea in 2007, weighed . However, its beak is not the largest known from this species; even bigger colossal squid beaks have been recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales, indicating that this species can grow larger still. Nautiluses are the only extant cephalopods with a true external shell; in other groups the shell has been internalised or lost completely. Internal shells include the cuttlebones"
"Blue whale The blue whale (""Balaenoptera musculus"") is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale parvorder, Mysticeti. At up to in length and with a maximum recorded weight of , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinct subspecies: ""B. m. musculus"" of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, ""B. m. intermedia"" of the Southern Ocean and ""B. m. brevicauda"" (also known as the pygmy blue whale) found in the Indian Ocean and"
"the size of ""Paraceratherium"", and was heavier than several sauropod dinosaurs. Zygolophodon Zygolophodon is an extinct genus of African, Asian, North American and European mammutid that lived from the Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene. It may have evolved from ""Tetralophodon"". While collecting fossils in the Clarno Formation of Oregon during 1941, noted paleobotanists Alonzo W. Hancock and Chester A. Arnold recovered the most complete ""Zygolophodon"" skull known at the time. ""Zygolophodon borsoni"" is a large species that was sometimes considered as a species of ""Mammut"", and it was one of the largest terrestrial mammals of all time. With a shoulder"
"eurypterid. If the original identification as a spider would have been correct, ""Megarachne"" would have been the largest known spider to have ever lived. Eurypterids such as ""Megarachne"" are often called ""sea scorpions"", but the strata in which ""Megarachne"" has been found suggest that it dwelled in fresh water and not in marine environments. ""Megarachne"" was similar to other eurypterids within the Mycteropoidea, a rare group known primarily from South Africa and Scotland that had evolved a specialized method of feeding known as sweep-feeding in which they raked through the substrate of bodies of water in order to capture and"
"Gigantatypus Gigantatypus is an extinct late Maastrichtian sea turtle that lived in the southern regions of the Tethys Ocean about off the north eastern margins of Cretaceous Africa immediately before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction events . Fossil remains of ""Gigantatypus"" are so far only represented in sediments from Jordan. Estimated at over in length, members of this genus reached remarkably large proportions equivalent to that of ""Archelon"" Wieland, 1896 , considered as the largest marine turtles to ever roam the oceans of the world. Although ""Gigantatypus ""apparently did not survive the K/T boundary, which also was the fate of other gigantic"
"It is now believed that the minor variations described by Størmer are simply the differences found in adults and juveniles within a species. The largest arthropods to have ever existed were eurypterids. The largest known species (""Jaekelopterus rhenaniae"") reached up to in length, about the size of a crocodile. Species of ""Eurypterus"", however, were much smaller. ""E. remipes"" are usually between in length. ""E. lacustris"" average at larger sizes at in length. The largest specimen of ""E. remipes"" ever found was long, currently on display at the Paleontological Research Institution of New York. ""Eurypterus"" fossils often occur in similar sizes"
"river-dweller is and almost . Before amniotes became the dominant tetrapods, several giant amphibian proto-tetrapods existed and were certainly the dominant animals in their ecosystems. The largest known was the crocodile-like ""Prionosuchus"", which reached a length of . The largest known species of sea sponge is the giant barrel sponge, ""Xestospongia muta"". These massively built sponges can reach in height and can be of about the same number of feet across at the thickest part of the ""body"". Some of these creatures have been estimated to be over 2,400 years of age. The lion's mane jellyfish (""Cyanea capillata"") is the"
"of extra bones. A museum specimen of particular note was a fossil, the Zeuglodon, which the Complete Guide to the St. Louis Museum called ""the greatest fossil in the world."" The Zeuglodon was discovered in 1848 in a field in Alabama. After it was extricated from the rock in which it was found, Dr. Koch purchased the fossil for the St. Louis Museum. The fossilized animal was amphibious and resembled a whale, alligator, and serpent. Only one other fossil of this animal was known to exist at the time, which was owned by the King of Prussia. Previously a Mastodon"
"Megalochelys atlas Megalochelys atlas is an extinct species of giant cryptodiran turtle from the Miocene through to the Pleistocene periods. During the dry glacial periods it ranged from western India and Pakistan (possibly even as far west as southern and eastern Europe) to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia. ""Megalochelys atlas"" is the largest known member of Testudinidae, with a shell length of about , an estimated total length of , and an approximate total height of . Popular weight estimates for this taxon have varied greatly with the highest estimates reaching up to in some instances."