what is this??

[OB]

For those with an interest to study the book of Jonah, I would also advise looking up the the Myth of Heracles rescuing Hesione. Please find this handy introduction mostly taken from the Rutgers site (edited for errors):

"Heracles's rescue of Hesione, paralleled by Perseus's rescue of Andromeda, is clearly derived from an icon common in Syria and Asia Minor: Marduk's conquest of the Sea-monster Tiamat, an emanation of the goddess Ishtar, whose power he annulled by chaining her to a rock. Marduk is swallowed by Tiamat, and disappears for three days before fighting his way out. So also, according to a Hebrew moral tale apparently based on the same icon, Jonah spent three days in the Whale's belly; and so Marduk's representative, the King of Babylon, spent a period in demise every year, during which he was supposedly fighting Tiamat. Marduk's or Perseus's white solar horse here becomes the reward for Hesione's rescue. Heracles's loss of hair emphasizes his solar character: a shearing of the sacred king's locks when the year came to an end, typified the reduction of his magical strength, as in the story of Samson. When he had no more hair than an infant."

This might also be helpful, Cindy.

Have fun,

Olaf

 

[Graeme]

About Megs... were they not supposed to be coastal? Sorry, but a huge coastal shark would be quite easy to spot. I don't think Megalodon exsit anymore. That's not to say there isn't a possibility they became deep-sea animals, but I'm not so sure about such a large vertebrate surviving all its life down there. Most resident vertebrates in the deep sea are quite small, and animals like sperm whales only visit such depths. Obviously the calcium-retaining problem would affect a shark, since it's got no calcified structure, but I'm not so sure about their buoyancy mechanism. It's Urea they use isn't it?

Graeme- fighting a war with his keyboard again!

 

[cthulhu77]

To say that a meg was "coastal" is like saying Dilophosaurs spit venom...pure conjecture. In my opinion, the subspecies megalodon is nothing more than a large carcharodon. To be sure, there probably aren't any swimming in the ocean right now, but with the disruption of the large predators, perhaps some white sharks will attain the larger sizes of the past.

 

[Graeme]

I would have thought from the surrounding rock fossil you'd get an idea on the region on where the animal lived. Sure it could have drifted ashore, but isn't that how you get an idea of the animal's distribution? I would have thought there'd be more evidence in where a meg lived as than if dinos spat venom (since venom glands would eb soft tissue and long gone). I could be mistaken though, I'm not much of a palaeontologist, I'm afraid.

Graeme

 

[cthulhu77]

Well, the bulk of the teeth have been found in the shallow sea beds (now up and dry, of course), but there could be just as many out in the deep...spotting a shark tooth at 150' would be tough! Just like carcharodon's, they swam in the shallows, and in the pelagy...

 

[Graeme]

Aye. Right enough. That's the thing about prehistoic beasties. We don't know much more about them than their remains. How great would it be to be able to look back in time and see the fossils actually alive!?

Graeme

 

[OB]

You and all of us both, Graeme...

 

[bigGdelta]

hey graeme, what about the six gilled sharks don't they get 20' + and live in deep water.

 

[bobwonderbuns]

That's a really good question about the six-gill shark. Do they live in the Mediterranian?

 

[cuttlegirl]

From the Florida Museum of Natural History http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/BigeyeSGill/BigeyeSgill.html

Geographical Distribution
The bigeye sixgill shark is probably distributed worldwide in deep water. However it has been reported in the western Atlantic Ocean from Mexico to the Bahamas, northern Cuba, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In the eastern Atlantic, this shark is found from France south to Morocco, including the Mediterranean Sea. It may also reside off the coasts of Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria. In the Indian Ocean, this shark lives off the eastern and southern coasts of the African continent and Aldabra Island (India). The distribution in the western Pacific Ocean includes Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, New Caledonia, and Australia.

Not sure if this is the six gill you were thinking of, but it is a six gill...

 

[Jubile98]

Quick question from an amateur (or less...), how is it that anyone can assume anything about this "megalodon," when all anyone seems to have on it are teeth (which looks like any ol' shark teeth, just big) and some pieces of vertebra?

It's along the same lines as making an ape-man from a lower jaw bone and a piece of skull... which seems to happen alot. Why not just say it may be the remains of a Great White that lived a long time ago and got really, really BIG.

Again... I'm just someone who happened to read all the posts and became a bit curious. Thanks!

 

[Feelers]

Science is not out there to make things up - it is there to find the truth regardless of any preconceived ideas.
In the case of megalodon, the teeth would have been examined by many shark experts, and their consensus found that this would have been another species. I would imagine that the big Great White idea would have been proposed - and shot down, presumably due to difference in tooth structure ect. Otherwise, they would have called it a big Great White shark

The jaw bone thing is the same way a bone expert can determine someones age/height ect from just a single bone.
In the jaw bone case he would first have to prove that the measurements of the bone showed it was not just an ape for example.

In the human evolutionary pathway, more and more bones are being found every year, gradually building on what has already been found.

Many fundamentalists are not up to date with the very large array of new fossils ect, and often try to make it appear that the whole evolution theory is based on a few peices of bone that dont resemble much. Since the jaw bone (1994? or thereabouts?), there's a lot more puzzle peices that have been filled in - and therefor not as much "faith" in the scientific method is required.

 

[Phil]

That's a really good question about the six-gill shark. Do they live in the Mediterranian?

Absolutely! This be the beastie you are looking for:

Click here and here for information on the bluntnose six-gill shark.

Also, here is an absolutely excellent paper discussing the ecology of Megalodon and debunking claims that it could potentially still exist:

A Critical Evaluation of the Supposed Contemporary Existence of Carcharodon megalodon

 

[erich orser]

This might have already been mentioned here, but Cousteau's theory regarding the fish that reputedly ate Jonah was the Grouper. One of the episodes of his old show was even, I believe, called "The Fish that Swallowed Jonah". I've also read accounts of Gulf of Mexico hardhat divers having rather interesting encounters along the oil platform pilings with these rather weighty, highly territorial fish. Of course, these fish stories sounded like they were transcribed from interviews held at watering holes somewhat late in the evening, so I'm sure there's plenty of room for gross exageration...

 

[OB]

Henceforth jewfish?