Megalodon’s Maximum Size Was . . .

[suspsy]

. . . no more than 15 metres/50 feet according to the latest research. So pretty damn big, but not nearly as big as the one in the MEG novels/film.

https://resources.depaul.edu/newsroom/news/press-releases/Pages/megatooth-shark.aspx

[suspsy]

Here's the paper:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2019.1666840#.XZKNUG3YsTk

[ITdactyl]

That's still around the size of a humpback whale.

A 12 ft Great white is already terrifying (heck, a 6 ft white shark rushing towards you is nightmare inducing), so the size estimate reduction is moot.  Even if future findings determine that Meg doesn't outgrow max size whale sharks (Rhincodon), that's still impressive.

*pardon the casual switching between scientific names and pop/nicknames.

[MLMjp]

First they proposed Carcharocles, now it is Otudus?

Ironically no matter which genus they attribute it to, the creature will still remain cause everyone calls it by the species name.

(Insert genus) megalodon, the species that does not need a genus to be recognized.

[Faelrin]

Well it's still much bigger then a Great White Shark, which makes it big enough for me I guess. Though I do now wonder how it compares with other large prehistoric marine apex predators. Clearly still bigger then Dunkleosteus. Mosasaurus might be bigger then it maybe though? Possibly others right?

[suspsy]

A 20 foot long shark is significantly heavier than a crocodile of the same length, so O. megalodon would likely be heavier than Mosasaurus. It probably weighed as much as a humpback whale, maybe even more.

[CityRaptor]

Wouldn't a Mosasaur also be heavier than a comparable land animal, given that it seems to be the case with fully aquatic animals in general.

The true Megalodon is of course a very different kind of beast:

"Bring me Jason Statham! I'll clamp off his toes with my shell!"