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How did ancient seaways help megalodon move between ocean basins?

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Illustration of a female megalodon shark (Carcharocles megalodon) with a faint human scuba diver silhouette in the background for scale, highlighting the shark's massive size. Measurement bars at the bottom show 3 meters and 9 feet for reference. — megalodon Megalodon (*Carcharocles megalodon*) was a species of shark that lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (23.03 million to 2.58 million years ago).

During the early and middle parts of the Miocene Epoch, large seaways acted as vital corridors that facilitated the movement of megalodon between different ocean basins.1

Specifically, these ancient waterways separated North America from South America, as well as Europe and Asia from Africa and the Middle East. By providing open passage through these regions, the seaways allowed the species to expand its geographic range from initial pockets in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas to coastal waters across the globe, including areas off the coasts of northern Europe, southern Africa, and east Asia.1

These connections eventually closed, such as with the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama, which restricted movement and altered ocean currents, contributing to the environmental shifts that preceded the species' extinction.23