New study suggests the extinct shark known as a megalodon was an even more impressive superpredator than scientists realized before.

The Otodus megalodon, lived more than 23 million years ago. Fossils of the extinct giant are hard to come by, while there are plenty of fossilized shark teeth, their bodies mainly consist of cartilage rather than bones, and are rarely preserved, reports CNN.

Researchers wrote, "We estimate that an adult O. megalodon could cruise at faster absolute speeds than any shark species today and fully consume prey the size of modern apex predators.”

According to the article, scientists have estimated the extinct sharks could be as long as 65 feet through a comparison with great white sharks, thought of as their "best available ecological analog," since they both occupy the top rung in the food chain.

The researchers used a megalodon vertebral column from Belgium, a tooth from the United States, and the chondrocranium, the cartilaginous equivalent of a skull from a great white shark to build their 3D skeleton. Then they used a full-body scan of a great white shark to estimate how flesh would sit on the megalodon's skeleton.

With a complete 3D rendering, they came up with estimates for the volume and body mass of the shark's whole body. By comparing the figures to the size of modern sharks, they estimated the shark's swimming speed, stomach value, calorie needs, and prey encounter rates.

According to their estimates, megalodon they modeled would have been almost 16 meters, or 52 feet, long. It weighed around 61,560 kilograms, or 135,717 pounds.

They estimated the superpredator would have been able to devour prey the size of orca whales, which can be up to 26 feet long and weigh over 8,000 pounds, in just five bites.

Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan