The Hoffman's Dragon Shark (Dracopristis hoffmanorum) is an extinct species of shark that lived during the Carboniferous period about 307 million years ago. The fossil of this prehistoric shark was discovered in New Mexico in 2013, and the first full description was published in 2021.
The Godzilla Shark Fossil: Its Discovery
A team of researchers from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS) discovered the Godzilla Shark. They found the extinct animal fossil in the Manzano Mountains while learning about other fossils in the area.
Ctenacanth sharks represent a unique evolutionary branch of sharks that split off from the modern sharks and rays approximately 390 million years ago, but went extinct by the end of the Paleozoic Era, about 252 million years ago.
Ancient relatives
Hoffman's dragon shark belonged to a group of mysterious ancient sharks known as the Ctenacanths which diverged from modern sharks and rays around 390 million years ago during the Devonian Period.
A newly discovered species of demon catshark is found in the deep waters off Australia. What has long, bright white eyes, swims along the deep waters off Australia and attaches its eggs to coral? A new species of shark, called Apristurus ovicorrugatus.
The speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis) is one of the rarest shark species on earth, found only in tropical rivers in New Guinea and northern Australia.
Internet rumors persist that modern-day megalodons exist – that they still swim around in today's oceans. But that's not true. Megalodons are extinct. They died out about 3.5 million years ago.
The largest shark alive is a whale shark, according to the Smithsonian. It is also considered the largest fish in the world, says the Natural History Museum. Whale sharks can reach 60 feet in length, says Smithsonian, and on average, these fish weigh 20.6 tons, according to livescience.com.
It's estimated that 73 million sharks are killed a year for shark fin soup. Sharks account for about 95 percent of the global fin trade.
The great white shark has killed the most humans resulting in 52 known fatalities, though roughly 300 unprovoked attacks are recorded from the great white.
Megalodons succumbed to global cooling due to the shrinking of their habitat, the vanishing of their favorite prey, and competition from other predators 3.5 million years ago.
The Black Demon Shark (Spanish: El Demonio Negro) is an enormous black shark whose territory is said to be just off the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. In recent years, numerous sightings have been reported, primarily from local fishermen.
Although Megalodon teeth are frequently discovered, a full megalodon jaw has never been discovered. Saltwater breaks down cartilage, so all megalodon jaws have likely dissolved.
Mechagodzilla, Fake Godzilla was a disguise for the Mechagodzilla created by the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens. In Godzilla Island, Fake Godzilla was a robotic impostor used by the Xiliens to frame the real Godzilla.
This rare species occurs widely in the tropical coastal waters of the western Indo-Pacific, at depths of up to 90 m (300 ft). Highly distinctive in appearance, Rhina ancylostoma has a wide and thick body with a rounded snout and large shark-like dorsal and tail fins.
How many sharks are killed each year? Humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks every year. That's an average of almost 274,000 sharks every day, over 11,000 sharks every hour, and around three sharks every second!
Millions of sharks are being slaughtered every year to meet the demand of shark fins and shark meat. About 11,000 sharks per hour, 250,000 sharks per week, 73 to 100 million sharks per year are killed by humans either through targeted fishing for fins, meat and other products, or through by catch of other fisheries.
While Deep Blue may be one of the largest fish in the ocean, these creatures can still be elusive and NOAA estimates a great white shark lifespan to be around 30-70 years so there's every chance Deep Blue is still alive and well in the ocean to this day.
Leedsichthys problematicus, meaning "Alfred Leed's problem-causing fish", was another prehistoric ocean giant. Estimates put Leedsichthys at approximately 16.5m long, substantially larger than the average Megalodon.
1. Great White Shark. Great white sharks are the most aggressive sharks in the world has recorded 333 attacks on humans, with 52 of them being fatal. The inclusion of this particular species probably comes as no surprise since movies, particularly Jaws, and television shows are quick to show their aggression.
Is the megalodon still alive? 'No. It's definitely not alive in the deep oceans, despite what the Discovery Channel has said in the past,' notes Emma. 'If an animal as big as megalodon still lived in the oceans we would know about it.'
As of yet, no one has seen a Megalodon, also known as a Megatooth shark, which reportedly went extinct around 2.58 million years ago, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
In some exceptional cases, fossil marine mammal bones have been found with the bite marks of a megalodon. Some sperm whale bones have evidence of megalodon attacks on their foreheads, a part of the whale that would have been rich in fats. Dolphin tailbones have also been found with deep megalodon tooth marks.