20 meter long shark extinct because of climate change

The ocean is cold due to climate change, leading to the extinction of many animals, including the largest shark.

Catalina Pimiento, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, in a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, said that the largest shark ever lived on the Earth was destroyed by climate change , Newsweek said June 26. believe.

This ancient ocean-dominated killer assassin called Carcharocles megalodon , can reach nearly 20 meters long, nearly 3 meters wide, living 23 million years ago at the end of Pliocene (about 2,6-5, 3 million years ago) and wiped out in a global extinction event that caused 36% of the ocean's large animals to disappear.

Image of the giant shark that once lived on Earth.(Graphics: Newsweek).

Over the years, scientists have thought that changing environmental conditions, a decline in prey and the emergence of new predators in the ocean all seem to play a role in the extinction of these sharks. .

Analysis of the published fossil data of this period, the scientists found the world extremely large transforming climate at the end of Pliocene. The global temperature and sea level plummeted, resulting in widespread changes in flora and fauna. In the ocean, many species become extinct while others begin to rise.

The study shows the disappearance of seven groups of animals on the coast leading to the decline of other species."We see changes in sea level due to ice formation leading to the disappearance of coastal species. According to our hypothesis, this causes an extinction , " Pimiento said.

Scientists believe that hot-blooded animals face a higher risk of extinction than the rest of the species."This study shows that the giant animals of the ocean are vulnerable to environmental changes on a global scale , " Pimiento concluded.