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How did scientists estimate megalodon’s size from fossil teeth?

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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).

Scientists estimate the size of the megalodon by analyzing the statistical relationship between the size of its fossil teeth and the corresponding tooth and body dimensions of modern great white sharks and other living relatives.1

Because sharks have cartilaginous skeletons rather than bones, their teeth are the most common fossil remains available for study. By comparing these large, serrated teeth to those of modern species, researchers can extrapolate the shark's overall body length and mass. These calculations suggest that mature adult megalodons typically reached lengths of 13 to 14 meters (about 42.7 to 45.9 feet), with the largest specimens potentially measuring up to 24.3 meters (nearly 80 feet) long. Similar methods applied to juvenile teeth have also allowed scientists to estimate that newly birthed young were at least 2 meters (6.6 feet) in length.213