For the new megalodon body length estimate, they used the fossil specimen IRSNB P 9893, a collection of teeth and 141 vertebrae from which the central part remains. The researchers also analysed CT scans of a young specimen of Carcharodon carcharia in detail and compared the vertebral skeleton to a previous reconstruction of the megalodon’s vertebral column.
It turned out that the total body length of the megalodon specimen, represented by the incomplete vertebrae, estimated from the vertebral diameters of the modern white shark, was shorter than the sum of the lengths of these fossil vertebrae. This could mean that megalodon had a more elongated body compared to the great white shark, but the authors note that due to the lack of vertebrae in the palaeontological data, the exact length remains unknown.
