Fossils from the largest shark known in history have been found by investigators from the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IES) in Canarian waters.
The Megalodon sharks teeth were found over 1,000m deep at the foot of an underwater mountain. The fossils were found at the base of the Banco de Concepción during October 2012, the news was only released this week, on the 2nd September. Lineas Maritimas Romero have produced this map to show the location in relation to Lanzarote.
Otodus ( Megaselachus ) or Megalodon sharks as they are commonly known grew to be around 20m in length and weigh around 100 tonnes. They were huge migratory predators, their diet consisted of whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and large fish. This super shark lived in all the oceans, approximately 20 million years ago.
Amongst the deposit of fossils, the investigators also discovered fossilised remains of other extinct sharks, fragments of a manatee / sea cow and whale bones. Marine biologist Pedro Pascual explained that the find is of great scientific importance and provides new information about the formation of the Canary Islands, as they rose from the sea during the Miocene between 23 and 5 million years ago.
Evidence confirming the existence of Sirenians (manatee) in our waters has not been recorded before in the Canary Islands, this fact alone has provided valuable information about the ecosystem and climate at the time the islands were formed.
This discovery was made during the Marine Research campaign ( INCOECO 1012 ) aboard the vessel Ángeles Alvariño.
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