The Rise And Fall Of The Giant Megalodon Shark (expired event)

The mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period wiped out the mosasaurs, a group of giant marine reptiles that had ruled the oceans for 15 million years.

This paved the way for the rise of an evolutionary lineage of sharks that culminated in the arrival of Carcharocles megalodon. New research indicates that this enormous predator went extinct around 3.6 million years ago, which is earlier than previous estimates. A number of factors may have contributed to its demise including climate change, extinction of important prey species and possible competition between young C. megalodon and adult white sharks.

Join Mikael Siversson for a fascinating journey into ancient waters to explore the giant otodontid shark Carcharocles megalodon, and chart the rise and fall of this marine super predator.

Dr Mikael Siversson is Head of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Western Australian Museum and a leading authority on Cretaceous lamniform sharks. He has also published scientific articles on dinosaurs, marine reptiles, pterosaurs and mammals from the Cretaceous period. He was part of the team that discovered and subsequently described the first horned dinosaurs (ceratopsians) from Europe. He is actively exploring Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks in Western Australia for sharks and marine reptiles.