Miocene marine vertebrate trophic ecology reveals megatooth sharks as opportunistic supercarnivores
• Enamel(oid) zinc isotopes are used to reconstruct Miocene marine food web structures. • δ 66 Zn values record resource partitioning among Upper Marine Molasse vertebrate taxa. • The dietary ecology of Carcharodon hastalis was distinct from modern white sharks. • Otodus chubutensis/megalodon had a similar trophic level as modern apex predators. • Otodus spp. were flexible in their prey selection also on a population level. Trophic interactions play pivotal roles in marine vertebrate ecology and evolution. Yet, these parameters are especially difficult to determine in fossil communities. To elucidate past trophic palaeoecology, we apply the zinc isotope proxy in a comprehensive analysis of 19 taxa from an early Miocene marine ecosystem, including the megatooth sharks Otodus megalodon / chubutensis . We find substantial resource partitioning among these taxa, with at least three distinct trophic positions and a general increase in body size of taxa towards the top of the food web. The white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) ancestor Carcharodon hastalis had a distinctly different trophic ecology compared to modern C. carcharias , corresponding to the evolutionary gain of tooth serrations between the two species. A comparison among fossil assemblages indicates that megatooth Otodus sharks possessed a higher dietary flexibility on a population level than previously understood, suggesting that they were opportunistic supercarnivores capable of foraging throughout the food web.
Authors
- Martin A. Becker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8029-3576)
- Jeremy McCormack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5995-877X)
- Harry M. Maisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1430-3382)
- Michael L. Griffiths (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4051-7568)
- Gertrud E. Rößner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6538-5333)
- Nicolas Bourgon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8538-1903)
- Alexandre Assémat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8649-0383)
- Wolfgang Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-8011)
- Kenshu Shimada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7836-809X)
- Oliver Hampe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4493-3991)
- Iris Feichtinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4326-2089)
- Jürgen Pollerspöck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5558-0987)
- Klervia Jaouen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2820-5035)
- Benjamin T. Fuller
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- DePaul University (US)
- William Paterson University (US)
- Natural History Museum Vienna (AT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Museum für Naturkunde (DE)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Florida Gulf Coast University (US)
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (FR)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
- Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (FR)
- Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie (DE)
- Institute of Geological Sciences (AM)
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (DE)
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR)
- Bavarian Natural History Collections (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Fort Hays State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Earth and Planetary Science Letters
- Published
- 2025-05-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119392
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.94
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council