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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Charlotte Graham-McLay

Researchers discover monster mega-predator shark that ruled the ocean before the megalodon

Megalodons are believed to have grown to lengths of 50 feet (Alex Boersma/PNAS/PA) -

A monstrous shark, predating whales, great whites, or even the bus-sized megalodon, once prowled the waters off what is now northern Australia during the Cretaceous period.

Researchers, studying huge vertebrae discovered near Darwin, have identified this creature as the earliest known mega-predator of the modern shark lineage.

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