The great white shark is a formidable oceanic hunter. Its powerful jaws are capable of exerting over 4,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) of bite force — enough to shatter a human femur.
But compared to the megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark that roamed the oceans from 15 million to 3.6 million years ago, the great white seems like a mere minnow. The megalodon had a sleek body estimated to exceed 60 feet in length, according to a 2024 paper published in Palaeontologia Electronica, dwarfing its modern counterpart. (The biggest great white sharks only reach up to 20 feet long.)
While adult great whites primarily feast on smaller marine mammals, like seals and sea lions, the megalodon targeted larger prey, particularly whales. With this evidence of bite marks on ancient marine mammal bones, it begs the question, how strong did the megalodon bite have to be?
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