Megalodon Temporal range: Miocene – Pliocene ~23–3.6 mya
Model of the jaws of the megalodon at the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Otodontidae
Genus:	Otodus
Species:	O. megalodon
Binomial name
Otodus megalodon

Megalodon tooth with slant height (diagonal length) of over 170 mm.

Vertebral centrum of a whale bitten in half by a megalodon. Large bite marks (deep gashes) on the vertebral centrum are visible.

Megalodon is a theoretically extinct species of shark and was the largest of all time, as far as we know. Its scientific name is Otodus megalodon (meaning "big mouth"). It lived from the early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs, 23 to 3.6 million years ago (mya). It is not closely related to the present-day great white shark.

Megalodon had teeth, which are among the largest ever found, over 18 cm (7.1 in) long. Nicolaus Steno was the first to recognize the teeth as those of a giant shark. Paleontologists calculate that the shark was up to 20 m (66 ft) long with average length of 17 meters (56 feet) It weighed up to 48-103 metric tons. Recent teeth have been found dating back to 11,000 years ago.