Nature Communications (May 2022)

Trophic position of Otodus megalodon and great white sharks through time revealed by zinc isotopes

  • Jeremy McCormack,
  • Michael L. Griffiths,
  • Sora L. Kim,
  • Kenshu Shimada,
  • Molly Karnes,
  • Harry Maisch,
  • Sarah Pederzani,
  • Nicolas Bourgon,
  • Klervia Jaouen,
  • Martin A. Becker,
  • Niels Jöns,
  • Guy Sisma-Ventura,
  • Nicolas Straube,
  • Jürgen Pollerspöck,
  • Jean-Jacques Hublin,
  • Robert A. Eagle,
  • Thomas Tütken

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30528-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Here the authors demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (δ66Zn) to geochemically assess trophic levels in extant and extinct sharks. They show that the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) occupied a similar trophic level.