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. 2022 May 31;13(1):2980.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30528-9.

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

Jeremy McCormack  1   2 , Michael L Griffiths  3 , Sora L Kim  4 , Kenshu Shimada  5   6 , Molly Karnes  4 , Harry Maisch  7 , Sarah Pederzani  8 , Nicolas Bourgon  8   9 , Klervia Jaouen  8   10 , Martin A Becker  3 , Niels Jöns  11 , Guy Sisma-Ventura  12 , Nicolas Straube  13 , Jürgen Pollerspöck  14 , Jean-Jacques Hublin  8   15 , Robert A Eagle  16 , Thomas Tütken  9
Affiliations

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

Jeremy McCormack et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Diet is a crucial trait of an animal's lifestyle and ecology. The trophic level of an organism indicates its functional position within an ecosystem and holds significance for its ecology and evolution. Here, we demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (δ66Zn) to geochemically assess the trophic level in diverse extant and extinct sharks, including the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We reveal that dietary δ66Zn signatures are preserved in fossil shark tooth enameloid over deep geologic time and are robust recorders of each species' trophic level. We observe significant δ66Zn differences among the Otodus and Carcharodon populations implying dietary shifts throughout the Neogene in both genera. Notably, Early Pliocene sympatric C. carcharias and O. megalodon appear to have occupied a similar mean trophic level, a finding that may hold clues to the extinction of the gigantic Neogene megatooth shark.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Zinc isotope (δ66Zn) composition of extant elasmobranch and teleost fish teeth and gill raker.
Specimens come from off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South Africa, New Jersey (NJ), California (CA), North Carolina (NC), Iceland (IS), Norway (NO), Florida (FL), Cyprus (CY), Massachusetts (MA), Alaska and Israel. Aquarium sharks are from the New York (NY) and Tokyo (TYO) Aquariums and the Eilat (Israel) Underwater Observatory Park. Pisciculture S. aurata individuals are numbered and plotted individually to visualise the homogeneity among control-fed individuals compared to wild elasmobranchs and teleosts. Silhouettes are not to scale. Measurement uncertainty is indicated at the 2 SD level. Samples are colour-coded following their genus, regardless of locality. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Zinc isotope (δ66Zn) composition of fossil elasmobranch enameloid.
Teeth are from the Early Pliocene of Japan, North Carolina (NC) and Florida (FL), Pliocene to Miocene transition of Florida, the Early Miocene of North Carolina, Germany and Malta. For more details on the sample background, see Supplementary Data 1, Supplementary Note 2. Silhouettes are not to scale. Measurement uncertainty is indicated at the 2 SD level. Samples are colour-coded following their genus, regardless of locality. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Zinc isotope (δ66Zn) composition of fossil and extant elasmobranch enameloid of selected taxa combined from Figs. 1 and 2.
Fossil teeth are from multiple locations and ages. Grey silhouettes indicate extant teeth. The boxes for n > 5 represent the 25th–75th percentiles (with the median as a horizontal line) and the whiskers show the 10th–90th percentiles. Box plots (and n) do not include aquarium teeth (open squares). Otodus spp. includes all O. chubutensis (dark blue) and O. megalodon teeth (light blue) analysed and samples are otherwise colour-coded following their genus. Silhouettes are not to scale. For more details on the samples, see Figs. 1 and 2 and Supplementary Data 1. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Measurement uncertainty is indicated at the 2 SD level.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Results from post-hoc Games-Howell pairwise comparisons of δ66Zn values of enameloid from fossil and extant Otodus spp. and Carcharodon spp.
All assemblages and ages are combined for a given species, except for extant C. carcharias. Extant C. carcharias teeth are indicated with grey silhouettes. a Includes all O. megalodon populations, whereas (b) excludes the Japanese (Pacific) population, focusing on Atlantic and Tethys/Paratethys populations only. The boxes for n > 5 represent the 25th–75th percentiles (with the median as a horizontal line), and the whiskers show the 10th–90th percentiles. Significance level is indicated by “*” (p value < 0.05), “**” (p value < 0.005), “***” (p value < 0.0005) and “****” (p value < 0.00005). Measurement uncertainty is indicated at the 2 SD level. See also Supplementary Tables 11, 12. Otodus chubutensis (dark blue) and O. megalodon teeth (light blue) are coloured separately. All other samples are colour-coded following their genus. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Silhouettes are not to scale.
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