@article{c95153d3b88a45ebbd3382b58b3eed4f,
title = "Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions",
abstract = "Trophic position is a fundamental characteristic of animals, yet it is unknown in many extinct species. In this study, we ground-truth the 15N/14N ratio of enameloid-bound organic matter (δ15NEB) as a trophic level proxy by comparison to dentin collagen δ15N and apply this method to the fossil record to reconstruct the trophic level of the megatooth sharks (genus Otodus). These sharks evolved in the Cenozoic, culminating in Otodus megalodon, a shark with a maximum body size of more than 15 m, which went extinct 3.5 million years ago. Very high δ15NEB values (22.9 ± 4.4%) of O. megalodon from the Miocene and Pliocene show that it occupied a higher trophic level than is known for any marine species, extinct or extant. δ15NEB also indicates a dietary shift in sharks of the megatooth lineage as they evolved toward the gigantic O. megalodon, with the highest trophic level apparently reached earlier than peak size.",
author = "Kast, {Emma R.} and Griffiths, {Michael L.} and Kim, {Sora L.} and Rao, {Zixuan C.} and Kenshu Shimada and Becker, {Martin A.} and Maisch, {Harry M.} and Eagle, {Robert A.} and Clarke, {Chelesia A.} and Neumann, {Allison N.} and Karnes, {Molly E.} and Tina L{\"u}decke and Leichliter, {Jennifer N.} and Alfredo Mart{\'i}nez-Garc{\'i}a and Akhtar, {Alliya A.} and Wang, {Xingchen T.} and Haug, {Gerald H.} and Sigman, {Daniel M.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank individuals listed in the “Materials” section for securing or loaning us specimens listed in data file S1, J. A. Higgins for general input, and C. Spence Morgan for Fig. 4. This study was supported by the Scott Fund of the Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, by grants from the National Science Foundation Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology (1830581 to M.L.G. and M.A.B.; 1830638 to R.A.E.; 1830480 to S.L.K.; and 1830858 to K.S.), the European Research Council Consolidator Grant Agreement 681450 (to J.N.L., awarded to T. T{\"u}tken), the Max Planck Society (to A.M-G. and G.H.H.), and the American Chemical Society Award, Petroleum Research Fund Undergraduate New Investigator Grant, PRF #54852-UNI2 (to M.L.G.). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved",
year = "2022",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1126/sciadv.abl6529",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "8",
journal = "Science Advances",
issn = "2375-2548",
publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",
number = "25",
}