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What kinds of animals did megalodon eat?

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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).

As an apex predator, the megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon) occupied a top position in the marine food chain, consuming a diverse array of prey to support its massive size.12

Scientists believe that baleen whales were the primary food source for adult megalodons. In addition to whales, their diet included:3

Marine Mammals: Toothed whales (such as ancestral sperm whales, dolphins, and killer whales), sirenians (including dugongs and manatees), and seals.1
Fish: Various species of fish inhabited their environment and served as prey.12

Feeding habits varied by age; while adults targeted larger whales, juvenile megalodons likely hunted smaller, more abundant prey in shallow-water nurseries to avoid competition and predation from other large sharks. It is estimated that a megalodon may have consumed approximately 2,500 pounds of food per day.142